HOW  UNCLE  SAM  FIGHTS ; 


OR, 


Modern  Warfare— How  Conducted. 


■  EDITKD    BY 

GENERAL  A.  C.  PARKERSON. 

assisted  by 
Military  and  Nayal  Experts. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


BALTIMORE  : 

R.  H.  WOODWARD   COMPANY. 
1898. 


Copyright,  1S98. 
R.  H.  Woodward  Company. 


UTW- 

Ocl  " 


TABLE;    OK    CONTENTS. 

CHAPiKK    1.  Page. 

Life  of  Naval  Apprentices 15 

How  Boys  are  Trained  to  JIaii  Uur  warships— Service  on 
Shore  and  at  Sea. 

CHAPTER    II. 

Life  at  West  Point 27 

From  Reveille  to  Taps  at  the  Military  Academy— The  Mak- 
ing of  Officers  for  the  United  States  Army- Strict  Disci 
pline  and  Hard  Work— Lots  of  it  for  Twelve  Hours  out  of 
Twenty-four— A  Pleasant  Feature  of  the  Life  is  its  Demo- 
cratic Equality— A  Place  Where  Manly  Men  are  Made— 
The  Young  Guard  of  the  Republic. 

CHAPTER    III. 

Rules  to  Govern  War 35 

They  Have  Been  Adopted  to  Mitigate  its  Horrors— The  Red 
Cross  and  its  Work— The  Agreements  of  the  Convention 
at  Geneva— Rules  of  Naval  Warfare— General  Principles 
Which  Must  be  Observed  by  Both  Sides  in  Our  Issue 
With  Spain. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Torpedoes'  Use  in  War 57 

Delicate  Instruments  that  Carry  Certain  Destruction  to  the 
Most  Powerful  Ships— Wonderful  Ingenuity  in  Perfecting 
Details— The  Crude  Instruments  First  Made— Their  Grad- 
ual Improvement.  Until  Now  They  Are  the  Most  Dreaded 
Implements  of  War  on  the  Water-Devices  for  Regulating 
Speed,  Radius  of  Action,  Immersion  and  Almost  Absolute 
Certainty  of  Keeping  a  Straight  Course. 

CH?^TER    V. 

The  Man  in  the  Military  Mast 69 

Where  Grim  Death  Lurks  in  Battle-The  Military  Mast,  the 
Most  Exposed  Point  on  a  Battleship.  W^here  the  Chances 
Are  All  for  Death. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

In  a  Tgrpedo-Bo.\t • 77 

Its  Crew  Carry  Their  Lives  in  Tbeir  Hands-An  Obstruction 
May  Wreck  it.  a  Single  Shot  Send  it  to  the  Bottom,  and 
There  is  Constant  Danger  of  the  Premature  Explosion  of 
its  Deadly  Freight  or  Accident  to  its  Machiner.v-Discom- 
forts  That  Become  Unbearable. 


4  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Page. 

The  Deadly  Air-Gun 82 

Fires  a  SOO-Pouud  Charge  of  High  Explosives— Armor  no 
Protection  Against  These  Aerial  Torpedoes,  Which  Can 
Be  Hurled  Rapidly  and  With  Absolute  Precision  at  Fort 
or  Vessel— Not  a  Single  Accident  in  Ten  Years'  Experi- 
ments—To Be  Used  in  the  Defences  of  Baltimore. 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

How  We  Will  Sink  the  Cristobal  Colon 88 

By  a  Naval  Officer  Aboard  the  Ram  Katahdin. 

CHAPTER    IX. 
How  Big  Ships  Act  in  Battle ,. 95 

Detailed  Description  of  the  Bombardment  of  Matanzas— A 
Splendid  Exhibition  of  Gunnery— Scenes  on  Board  During 
the  Terrific  Roar  and  Din. 

CHAPTER    X. 
A  Ship  in  Action 107 

Peril  on  Deck  and  Below  and  Above— Peril  for  Officer  and 
Marine— A  Time  When  Men  Don't  Want  to  Hide— Many 
Kinds  of  Death  About  in  a  Sea  Fight. 

CHAPTER    XI. 
Big  Guns 117 

Wonderful  Destructive  Effect— Weight  of  Projectiles— Range 
—Cost  of  Firin;;— Armor  Piercing  i-hell— Striking  Energy- 
Pneumatic  Guns. 

CHAPTER    XII. 
Pay  of  Army  and  Navy 123 

How  the  Goverment  lUMUunerates  Those  Who  Fight  Its 
Battles  on  Land  and  Sea. 

CHAPTER   Xin.  .,...- 

The  New  and- the  Old  Navy ......-...,..-. —  132 

VVilliain  0.  Wb  tney  and  Captain  Maban  Given  the  Credit 
for  fbe  W^onderful  Improvement  in  Our  Fighting  Ships- 
Train. ng  of  Our  Naval  Ollicers  and  TUelr  Duties  Aboard 
Ship. 


TABLE    OF    COMEXTS.  5 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Page. 

Maxim's  Suggestions  for  Harbor  Defence 148 

The  Great  luveutor  Has  Some  Original  Notions— Novel  Craft 
Designed  by  Him. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Wait  for  the  Downward  Roll 154 

Directions  for  Firing  at  Sea  Explained  by  a  Naval  Officer. 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
Unique  Types  of  American  Warships 159 

'Ibe  Alouitor,  tbe  Kani  and  the  Dyuaiiiite  Cruiser  are  Kouud 
Only  in  Our  Navy— Three  Dangerous  Cranks— Monitor  and 
Ram  Have  Proved  Their  Value,  but  Other  Nations  Fight 
Shy  of  Them— "What  Each  Can  Accomplish— The  Vesuvius 
a  Doubtful  War  Factor  and  is  the  Only  Type  of  Her  Class. 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Earthen  Trenches 168 

They  Will  Cut  Considerable  Figure  in  Future  Battles— How 
They  Have  Been  Employed  in  All  Ages— Quick  Work  for 
an  Army  in  Putting  up  Defences  in  the  Open. 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

The  Mosquito  Fleet 179 

To  Keep  a  Strict  Watch  for  the  Enemy  Along  the  Atlantic- 
Maryland  Reserves  Will  Man  the  Cruiser  Di.xie,  Monitor 
.Mahopac  and  Other  Vessels  in  the  Fifth  Patrol  District, 
Which  Includes  the  Chesapeake- Designed  for  Scout  Duty, 
the  "Mosquitoes"  May  Sting  Hostile  Ships. 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Shares  in  Prize  Money 185 

How  Captured  Vessels  Are  Condemned  In  Federal  Courts 
and  the  Proceeds  Divided. 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Dynamite  in  Modern  Warfare 186 

Uses  and  Dangers  of  Dynamite  Both  Afloat  and  Ashore. 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

Government  of  a  Man-of-War 204 

How  Discipline  is  Maintained  on  the  Ships  of  the  United 
States  Navy. 


6  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Page. 

General  Greeley  Writes  of  Military  Balloons 210 

He  Says  They  Have  Passed  the  Experimental  Stage  and  Are 
Now  a  Most  Important  Factor  in  Warfare. 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Classes  of  Cruisers 219 

How  the  Various  Types  of  Cruisers  Differ  and  the  Pur- 
poses for  Which  They  Are  Designed. 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Maxim  Guns  Up  to  Date 222 

Light  Enough  to  be  Mounted  With  Two  Men  on  a  Tricycle — 
Can  Be  Carried  by  a  Cavalryman  in  a  Holster  or  Liike  a 
Knapsack  on  an  Infantryman. 

CHAPTER    XXV. 
Modern  Surgery  in  the  Field 226 

Bayonets  and  Scabbards  as  Splints  in  Emergency  Cases— 
The  Duties  of  the  Men— Surgeon-Colonel  Stevenson  Writes 
of  the  Splendid  System  of  Relief— To  Lessen  the  Horrors 
of  War— Distinguished  Surgeon  Tells  How  the  Wounded 
Soldiers  Are  Cared  for  While  the  Battle  Rages. 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

The  Men  in  the  Turret  Behind  the  Guns 240 

How  it  Looks  Inside  the  Forward  Turret  Behind  the  Eight- 
Inch  Guns— "Load!"  "Point!"  "Fire!"  "Sponge!"— The 
Wonderful  Story  of  the  Eight-Inch  Guns  at  Manila. 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 
Carrier  Pigeon  Service  of  the  United  States  Navy.  249 

Coast-Line  Pigeon  Stations— Ships  at  Sea  Communicating 
With  Navy  Department— Value  of  Pigeons  in  Time  of 
Blockade. 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
Old-Time  Cannon  and  New 256 

Recent  Marvelous  Development  of  Naval  Armaments— First 
Use  of  Cannon  in  War— Substitution  of  Iron  and  Steel  Pro- 
jectiles for  Stone  Shot— Introduction  of  Sights  and  RlQing 
—How  Modern  Rifled  raniion  arc  Constructed— Method  of 
Securely  Mounting  Tbem  on  Shipboard— Superiority  in 
Range,  Accuracy  and  Penetration  of  Modern  Guns  Over 
Old  Smooth-bores— Some  Interesting  ('on)parisons. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Page. 

Signals  in  Sea  Fights 273 

Means  of  Communication  Used  by  Our  Warsliips— Flags  in 
the  Daytime  and  Electric  Liglits  at  Niglit  Used  Cliiefly— 
The  Ardois  Night  Signals  and  the  Meyer  Wigwag  System. 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

Training  Pack  Mules 279 

How  the  Pensive  Hybrid  is  Fitted  to  Accjuit  Himself  Cred- 
itably in  Time  of  War. 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

Types  of  the  Warships 286 

Differences  in  Armor  and  Guns  of  the  Various  Classes- 
Principle  of  the  Classification— General  Plan  of  the  Float- 
ing Fortress  Called  a  Battleship— Changes  that  Produce 
The  Cruisers— The  Torpedo-Boat  and  the  Destroyer. 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

What  it  Means  to  Fire  an  Eight-Inch  Gun 294 

Effect  on  Body— Effect  on  Mind. 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

How  the  President  Transmits  His  Orders 303 

Any  Part  of  the  World  May  he  Reached  by  Wire— Messages 
Sent  in  Cipher— Despatch  Boats  in  the  Navy. 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

Flags  on  a  Man-of-War 30.S 

The  Fighting  Goes  on  Until  a  National  Ensign  Comes  Down. 

CHAPTER    XXXV. 

Marksmanship  311 

Superior  Skill  of  Uncle  Sam's  Gunners  Due  to  Practice  and 
System. 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

Our  Fighting  Ships 318 

List  of  Vessels  Comprising  the  T'nited  States  Navy— Arma- 
ment, Cost,  Speed  and  Other  Particulars— Vessels  Now  in 
Course  of  Construction. 

CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

Fighters  Below  Decks 330 

Men  Down  There  Toil  and  Suffer,  but  They  Cannot  See 
the  Battle. 


8  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

Page 

Spain's  Fighting  Ships 34° 

Compiled  Mainly  from  a  "List  of  the  Battleships,  Cruisers 
and  Torpedo-boats  of  the  Spanish  Navy."  Prepared  in  the 
Military  Information  Division  at  Washington. 

CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

A  Battleship 35i 

The  Kind  of  Machinery  Contained  in  the  U.  S.  S.  Massa- 
chu.setts. 

CHAPTER    XL. 

Warship  Glossary 354 

Definitions  of  the  Various  Terms  Used  on  Board  a  Man-of- 
War. 

CHAPTER    XLI. 

Battle  of  Manila 364 

Graphic  Description  of  Dewey's  Triumphant  Conflict— The 
Spanish  Squndron  Succumbed  to  the  Terrific  Fire  of  the 
Well-Aimed  American   Guns. 

CHAPTER    XLII. 

Messes  in  ttie  Navy ^7^ 

How  the  Table  of  the  Officers  on  a  Man-of-War  is  Provided 
With  Eatables— On  the  Co-operativo  Plan— One  Officer  is 
Rlectod  as  the  Mess  Housekeeper. 

CHAPTER    XLIII. 
Naval  Battle  at  Santiago 383 

Cevera's  Fleet  Wrecked— Riddled  with  Shells  From  Our 
Guu.s. 

CHAPTER    XLIV. 

Our  Dynamite  Cruiser  and  the  Holland  Boat 407 

The  Vesuvius  and  Her  Guns— Holland's  Claims  for  His 
Boat. 

CHAPTER    XLV. 

Modern  Field  Tactics 4i5 

Artillery    in    the   Field— Cavalry    in    Modern    Warfare. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  «) 

CHAPTER    XLVI. 
Electricity  on  a  Battleship 429 

The  Wonderful  Power  Does  Everything  but  Move  the 
Ship— It  Loads  anii  Fi7'es  tlie  Guns,  Works  the  Signals, 
Lights  the  Ship  and  Does  a  Thousand  Other  Tasks. 

CHAPTER    XLVn. 
Secret  Service  System 438 

A  Peep  Behind  the  Scenes— Chief  of  the  United  States 
Secret  Service  System  Tells  of  the  Inside  Working  of 
His  Department. 

CHAPTER    XLVni. 
Women  Who  Make  Flags 465 

In  the  Brooklyn  Xavy  Yard  They  Worked  Nights,  Sundays 
and  Holidays  During  the  Year. 

CHAPTER    XLIX. 
Uniforms  Worn  by  Uncle  Sam's  and  Spain's  Soldiers.  470 

CHAPTER    L. 
Mustering  Out  the  Army 478 

How  the  Great  Organization  of  Volunteers  Will  Be  Dis- 
banded-A  Stupendous  Task.  AVhich  Will  Take  Several 
Months  to  Complete. 

CHAPTER    LI. 

Accuracy  of  Modern  Guns 48^ 

Aiming  a  Twelve-Inch  Monster  a  Marvel  of  Engineering- 
How  the  Range  is  Obtained. 

CHAPTER    LH. 
Rocket  Torpedo  Gun 486 

Most  Destructive  Implements  of  Naval  War— Rear-Admiral 
Howell  Has  Made  Some  Experiments  that  May  Soon 
he  Tested— Effects  of  a  "Sure-Shot"  on  a  Modern  Warship. 


10  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    LITI. 

Big  Coast  Defense  Guns 49i 

How  the  Great  Death-Dealing  Machines  Are  Loaded  and 
Fired— Mechanism  of  the  Disappearing  and  Dynamite 
Guns  and  the  Big  Mortars  Described. 

CHAPTER    LIV. 

Mining  the  Harbor 499 

How  the  Deadly  Explosives  Are  Placed  and  Operated. 

CHAPTER    LV. 
Conduct  of  an  Army  Camp 502 

Stupendous  Labor  Involved  in  Providing  for  25,000  Men- 
Soldiers  in  Camp  Are  Like  the  Inhabitants  of  a  City  Who 
Are  All  Dependent— Every  Man  Must  be  Fed,  Clothed  and 
Housed  Like  so  Many  Children— How  This  Is  Done. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Commodore  Dewey Frontispiece. 

Fencing  Drill 19 

Recreation — "Jolly   Tars'" 25 

Sewing  Hammocks .31 

President  McKinley  and  His  Cabinet  Discussing  the  Span- 
ish Difficulty zy 

Gen.  Fitzhugh  Lee 43 

Boston  (Protected  Cruiser) 49 

Baltimore  (Protected  Cruiser) 55 

Ericcson  (Torpedo-boat) 61 

Stiletto  (Torpedo-boat) 67 

Charleston  (Protected  Cruiser) "jt, 

Gushing  (Torpedo-boat) 79 

Steamship  St.  Paul 85 

Katahdin  (Ram) 91 

New  York  (Armored  Cruiser) 97 

Eight-inch  Gun  on  "New  York" 103 

Cincinnati  (Protected  Cruiser) 109 

Montgomery 115 

A  Mortar  Battery  in  .\ct:on.  Defending  a  Harbor 121 

II 


12  LIST  OF  rrjj\<!Tir\Tf()\s. 

Page. 

Admiral  Sicard 127 

General  Miles 127 

Captain    Higginson,     First-class     Battleship     "Massachu- 
setts"     133 

Commodore  Schley,  in  Command  of  Flying  Squadron.  . .  .  133 

The  Flying  Squadron  at  Hampton  Roads 139 

Un'ted  States  Monitor  Amphitrite 145 

Terror  (Monitor). 151 

San  Francisco  (Protected  Cruiser) 157 

Vesuvius  (Dynamite  Cruiser) 163 

Harbor — Key  West,  Fia 169 

Fort  Taylor,  Key  West 175 

Spain's  Torpedo-boat  Flotilla 181 

Cabanas  Castle 187 

Training  Ship — Catling  Gun  Practice 193 

Raleigh  (Protected  Cruiser) 199 

Miantonomoh  (Monitor) 205 

Columbia  (Protected  Cruiser) 211 

Philadelphia  (Protected  Cruiser) 217 

Machias  (Gunboat) 223 

Bancroft  (Special  Class) 235 

Marblchead  (Unarmored  Cruiser) 229 

Interior  of  the  Upper  Turrets,  showing  Breeches  of  the 

Eight-inch  Guns  on  "Massachusetts" 241 

Upper  Turrets  and  Eight-inch  Guns  on  "Massachusetts".  247 


LIST   OF   ILLVSTRATIOXH.  13 

Page. 
Atlanta  (Protected  Cruiser) 253 

Six-pounder  on  Upper  Works  of  "Massachusetts" 259 

Petrel  (Gunboat) 265 

Bennington  (Gunboat) .   271 

Concord  (Gunboat) 277 

Chicago  (Protected  Cruiser) 283 

Dolphin  (Special  Class) 289 

Eight-inch  Forward  Gun  on  the  "Atlanta" 295 

Oregon  (Battleship) 301 

Texas  (Battleship) 307 

Upper  Training  Ship  Gun  Practice 313 

Newark  (Protected  Steel  Cruiser) 319 

Castine  (Gunboat) 325 

Spanish  Cruiser — Havana  Harbor 331 

Cristobal  Colon  (Spanish  Armored  Cruiser) ^i^j 

Reina  Regenta  (Spanish  Unprotected  Cruiser) 343 

Comparative  Sizes  of  Projectiles 349 

General  Jose  Maceo 355 

Street  Scene,  Santiago 385 

Olympia  (Protected  Cruiser) 361 

Commodore  Dewey TjSy 

Captain  Sigsbee tjSj 

Battle  of  Manila ^y;^ 

Battle  of  Mobile  Bay  (Civil  War),  in  which   Dewey  was 
Engaged , 379 


14  LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIOyS. 

Page. 

A  Spanish  Advanced  Post,  Outside  Remedies 393 

A  Woman  Soldier 403 

A  Cuban  Soldier 403 

The  Vesuvius  Throwing  Shells 4^3 

Royal  Palms,  Botanical  Gardens 423 

The  Battleship  "Maine" 433 

Explosion  of  the  "Maine"  in  Havana  Harbor,  February 

15.   1898 439 

Wreck  of  the  "Maine" 445 

A  Cocoanut  Grove 45i 

Pineapple  Plantation 457 


HOW  UNCLE   SAM    FIGHTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

LIFE     OF     NAVAL     AfPRENTICES. 

HOW   BOYS   ARE   TRAINED   TO   MAN   OUR  WARSHIPS — SERVICE   ON 

SHORE  AND  AT  SEA. 

There  is  a  period  in  the  physical  and  mental  development  of 
the  average  lad,  irrespective  of  nationality,  in  which  his  in- 
herent taste  for  adventuresome  activity  in  one  form  or  another 
is  bound  to  be  asserted.  In  a  majority  of  instances  this  vola- 
tile propensity  assumes  a  nomadic  nature,  and,  although  char- 
acteristically transitory,  its  proportions  are  generally  of  suffi- 
cient inagnitude  to  arouse  more  or  less  apprehension  in  the 
minds  of  his  immediate  guardians.  The  custom  observed  by 
certain  nations  of  the  Old  World,  requiring  each  youth  of  the 
land  to  pass  the  last  few  years  of  his  minority  in  the  military 
service  of  his  country,  invariably  results  in  the  elimination  of 
whatever  Bohemian  ideas  his  industrious  young  brain  may 
previously  have  conceived,  and  enables  him  thereafter  to  com- 
placently settle  down  to  the  hackneyed  pursuits  of  life.  But 
with  the  American  boy  it  is  dififerent;  the  government  does 
not  exact  of  him  a  martial  education,  and  for  the  want  of  an 
opportunity  of  embodying  his  youthful  fancies  into  action,  he 
resigns  himself  to  alternating  with  the  clandestine  perusal  of 
such  demoralizing,  yellow-back  literature  as  he  can  acquire, 
and  dreaming  of  the  realms  of  eventfulness  which  he  firmly 
believes  to  lie  just  beyond  the  confines  of  the  parental  reserva- 
tion. The  prudence  of  forcibly  quenching  the  disposition  of 
the  juvenile  ambition  to  indulge  in  a  measure  its  venturesome 
inclinations  is  decidedly  questionable,  and  not  a  few  who  have 
graduated  from  a  prosaic  youth   into  manhood's  ubiquitous 


16  LIFE    OF    NATAL    APPRENTICES. 

alumni  are  disposed  to  recall  with  vain  regret  the  unfulfilled 
yearnings  of  their  boyish  minds. 

While  there  is  no  demand  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
Government  that  its  future  citizens  shall  serve  a  probationary 
course  in  any  of  its  military  organizations,  it  has,  in  recent 
times,  opened  up  an  avenue  of  emancipation  for  the  restless 
masculine  element  of  immature  years,  whereby  the  deficiencies 
of  commonplaceboyhoodlifeare  abundantly  provided  for.  The 
Utopia  in  question  is  the  government  training  school  for  naval 
apprentices.  The  system  of  receiving  boys  as  apprentices  in 
the  naval  service  dates  back  to  1837,  eight  years  prior  to  the 
establ'shment  of  the  naval  academy  at  Annapolis.  Upon  that 
occasion  Congress  authorized  the  enlistment  of  a  limited  num- 
ber of  lads  between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  eighteen  years  to 
serve  until  they  should  attain  their  majority,  with  the  object  of 
fitting  them  for  general  service  in  the  navy.  The  impression, 
however,  became  current  that  these  apprentices  were  eventu- 
ally to  become  midshipmen,  with  the  result  that  many  boys 
from  the  best  families  became  identified  with  the  new  de- 
parture, but  when  it  subsequently  developed  that,  with  a  very 
few  exceptions,  the  lads  were  ineligible  to  positions  which 
would  place  them  in  the  line  of  promotion,  there  immediately 
followed  a  clamor  for  discharges,  which,  with  a  little  influential 
pressure,  were  generally  forthcoming,  and,  after  a  brief  exist- 
ence, the  movement  was  abandoned. 

A  few  years  afterwards  the  project  was  again  revived,  and  a 
provision  made  that  one-half  of  the  midshipmen  of  the  navy 
should  be  appointed  from  the  apprentices.  The  consequence 
was  very  similar  to  that  of  the  first  attempt,  a  majoi'ity  of  the 
apprentices  representing  families  of  wealth  and  distinction, 
many  of  them  resorting  to  this  opportunity  of  securing  an 
ofiic?  in  the  service  after  having  failed  at  the  naval  academy,  the 
result  being  that  after  the  first  few  midshipmen  had  been 
selected  from  their  number  the  remainder  became  discontented, 
another  stampede  for  discharges  ensued,  and  for  a  second  tithe 
the  experiment  was  declared  a  failure. 

But  in  1857  the  deplorable  character  of  the  men  comprising 
the  crews  of  vessels  of  the  navy,  a  large  percentage  of  whom 


LIFE    OF    NAVAL    APPRENTICES.  17 

were  foreigners  who  in  many  instances  could  neither  speak 
nor  r.nderstand  English,  impelled  the  Navy  Department  to 
inaugurate  the  system  now  in  use  of  training  apprentices  for 
service  as  sailors  on  board  men-of-war.  The  following  ex- 
tracts from  the  revised  statutes  clearly  set  forth  the  object  of 
the  provision: 

"Boys  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  eighteen  years  may 
be  enlisted  to  serve  in  the  navy  until  they  shall  arrive  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years.  *  *  *  The  prime  object  is  to 
place  in  the  naval  service,  witii  the  consent  of  their  parents, 
such  good  and  deserving  boys  as  will  elevate  its  standard  and 
make  the  navy  more  reliable  as  an  arm  of  the  national 
defence." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  only  boys  of  good  moral  character 
and  those  having  the  full  consent  of  their  parents  or  guardians 
are  eligible  to  apprenticeship  in  the  naval  service.     Applicants 
are  examined  at  various  recruiting  rendezvous  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  but  principally  on  board  the  Minnesota  at  New  York 
and  on  the  Michigan  at  Erie.  Pa.     When  residing  at  a  distance 
the  applicant  is  furnished,  upon  request,  with  a  blank  form, 
which  may  be  filled  out  by  his  parents  or  guardian,  granting 
the  required  consent,  and.  armed  with  this  document,  he  pro- 
ceeds alone  to  his  destination,  and.  having  located  the  receiv- 
ing ship,  goes  on  board  and  presents  himself  to  the  officer-of- 
the-deck.     This  personage  in  turn  takes  him  before  the  execu- 
tive officer,  who  examines  his  certificate  and  questions  him  rig- 
idly concerning  his  full  name,  correct  age  and  motive  for  de- 
siring  to'  enter   the   service.     Having   accounted    for   himself 
satisfactorily,   he   is  next  turned   over  to  the   surgeon   of  the 
ship,  who  requires  him  to  strip  to  the  skin,  after  which  he  is 
given  a  thorough  physical  examination,  his  eyesight  carefully 
tested  and  his  measurements  taken.     If  between  fifteen  and  six- 
teen years  of  age  he  must  be  at  least  five  feet  in  height,  twenty- 
eight  inches  around  the  chest  and  weigh  eighty-five  pounds, 
and  if  older  his  requisite  proportions  increase  in  accordance 
with  his  years.     It  is  remarkable  how  few  are  the  boys  who 
attain  to  the  high  physical  standing  exacted  by  the  regulations, 
the  most  prevalent  defects  being  with  the  eyes,  although  th^ 


18  LIFE    OF    NAVAL    APPRENTICES. 

seeds  of  many  an  ill,  hitherto  undreamed  of,  are  found  to  have 
been  sown  in  the  youthful  anatomy. 

The  various  examinations  passed,  the  successful  candidate 
is  again  ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  executive  officer,  by 
whom  he  is  pledged  to  faithfully  serve  under  the  United  States 
flag  until  he  becomes  of  age,  unless  sooner  discharged  from 
unforeseen  causes.  He  then  signs  his  name  to  the  articles  and 
is  next  turned  over  to  the  pay-yoeman,  who  provides  him 
with  an  outfit  to  the  value  of  $45  and  which  consists  of  a  ham- 
mock, mattress  and  blankets,  in  which  he  will  hereafter  dream 
away  the  hours  of  his  watch  below,  three  blue  and  white  naval 
uniforms,  a  black  silk  neckerchief,  white  laniard  with  knife 
attached,  low-cut  shoes,  flannel  underclothing,  blacking  kit, 
whisk  broom,  tooth  brush,  towels  and  soap,  all  of  which  mis- 
cellaneous effects  are  piled  in  the  middle  of  the  deck  before 
the  bewildered  lad. 

Meanwhile  word  has  been  passed  from  one  to  another  of  his 
future  companions  throughout  the  ship  that  a  new  recruit  is 
being  initiated,  and  presently  he  is  surrounded  by  a  score  or 
two  of  mischievous  youngsters  of  somewhere  about  his  own 
age,  who  proceed  to  banter  him  with  all  sorts  of  drollery,  one 
of  them  gravely  inquiring  as  to  how  things  are  progressing  on 
the  farm,  while  another,  after  running  his  eye  over  his  newly- 
acquired  outfit,  informs  him  with  apparent  concern  that  the 
paymaster  has  neglected  to  provide  him  with  a  hammock 
ladder.  Finally  the  "jack-o'-the-dust"  comes  to  his  rescue 
with  a  large  white  canvas  bag,  which  will  hereafter  serve  him 
as  a  trunk,  and  in  which  he  is  instructed  how  to  stow  away 
his  spare  articles  of  clothing,  and  a  neat  wooden  ditty  box  de- 
signed to  contain  his  small  gear.  This  worthy  next  shows 
him  how  to  lash  his  hammock  with  a  neat  roll  and  stow  it  in 
the  nettings,  and  then  turns  him  over  to  the  boatswain's  mate, 
who  conducts  him  about  the  ship,  explains  its  various  parts  to 
him,  shows  him  what  mess  he  will  cat  with,  etc. 

The  numerous  ordeals  through  which  he  passes  during  the 
day  and  the  strangeness  of  his  surroundings  arc  very  apt  to 
have  a  depressing  effect  on  his  spirits,  and  by  the  time  ham- 
mocks  are   piped    in    the   evening,    and    he    is   tucked   away 


O 

I— I 

o 
o 


Liri-:  or  xavai.  ,i/'/'/.'/:\77r/;N. 


21 


in  Its  snowy  folds,  he  is  ready  to  cry  trom  genuine 
homesickness.  But  his  vacillating  bed  gradually  lulls  him 
into  a  peaceful  sleep,  to  dream  of  familiar  scenes,  wherein  he 
once  more  follows  the  lowing  herd  through  green  meadow 
lands,  which  now  appear  strangely  beautiful  to  him,  and  o 
quiet  fireside  associations  which  never  seemed  attractive  until 
now  that  he  has  left  them  behind. 

The  newly-enlisted  apprentice  does  not  remain  long  on 
board  the  receiving  ship,  but  is  sent,  in  company  with  other 
of  his  mates,  to  the  training  station  at  Coaster's  Island,  near 
Newport  R.  I.  Here  he  is  put  through  a  course  of  instruc- 
tion tor  a  period  of  six  months  or  longer,  according  to  his 
aptitude,  preparatory  to  his  assignment  to  one  of  the  traming 
ships  of  the  navy.  During  this  interval,  and  until  he  merits 
promotion  to  a  higher  rating;  his  pay  is  $9  per  month,  in  addi- 
tion to  which  he  is  allowed  one  ration  for  his  subsistence. 

His  course  at  the  training  station   marks  one  of  the  most 
pleasant  epochs  in  his  new  calling,  and,  aUhough  he  is  con- 
stantly looking  forward  to  the  time  when  he  will  be  sent  to  sea, 
its  pleasurable  environments  will  ever  afterward  dwell  in  his 
memorv      His  instructions  consist  of  three  branches,  viz.,  sea- 
manship, gunnery  and  English,  the  latter  compnsmg  the  sev- 
eral elements   of   reading,   writing,   spelling,    geography,    his- 
tory and  arithmetic.     Fencing  and  boxing  are  also  taught,  in 
order  that  he  may  know  how  to  handle  himself  at  close  quar- 
ters     There  is  a  spacious  parade  ground  at  Coaster  s  Island, 
and  every  day.  in  fine  weather,  it  presents  an  animated  scene. 
Should  the  lesson  be  in  gunnery,  the  classes  are  divided  into 
cun's  crews  under  the  supervision  of  a  schoolmaster,  who  is 
an  ex-apprentice,  appointed  to  his  position  upon  re-entermg 
the  navy  after  his  term  of  service  had  expired,  and  all  the  in- 
tricate maneuvers  are  gone  through  with  precisely  as  though 
performed  by  a  detachment  of  regular  artillery.     If  it  be  in- 
fantry drill  the  whole  school  assembles  under  arms  in  battalion 
formation,  and.  headed  by  the  band,  displays  a  very  martial 
appearance  in  its  execution  of  the  various  field  movements 

and  tactics.  ^  ,      ,  •  i. 

The  instructions  in  seamanship  at  Coaster's  Island  consist 


22  LIFE    OF    NAVAL    APPRENTICED. 

principally  of  knotting  and  splicing,  boxing  the  compass,  heav- 
ing the  lead  and  measuring  the  logline,  its  more  practical  feat- 
ures being  reserved  for  the  advanced  grades.  In  the  evening. 
between  supper  and  hammocks,  and  on  Saturday  afternoons, 
the  apprentice  is  allowed  the  freedom  of  the  island,  and  with 
boat-racing,  football  and  kindred  sports,  and  an  occasional 
visit  to  Newport,  he  develops  both  mentally  and  physically 
with  a  rapidity  that  is  truly  surprising.  On  Sundays  divine 
services  of  a  non-sectarian  order  are  conducted  in  the  chapel, 
which  ceremony  a  number  of  kindly-disposed  ladies  are  always 
interested  in  making  attractive. 

Twice  in  each  year,  with  the  commencement  of  summer  and 
the  setting  in  of  winter,  there  appear  at  the  island  one  or  more 
of  the  training  ships  of  the  navy,  and,  together  with  such  other 
boys  as  are  qualified,  from  a  standard  of  general  progress  and 
good  conduct,  he  is  taken  on  board  for  a  cruise,  which  during 
the  warm  months  is  passed  in  European  waters,  and  in  the  cold 
season  extends  to  the  West  Indies. 

From  that  time  on  his  education  assumes  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent phase,  and  while  the  theoretical  studies  are  still  con- 
tinued, he  is  taught  to  go  aloft  and  handle  sail,  to  reef  and 
furl,  to  send  up  spars  and  cross  yards,  to  signal  and  to  steer. 
The  crew  of  the  vessel  is  divided  into  two  watches;  if  assigned 
to  the  starboard  watch  he  wears  about  his  right  arm,  near  the 
shoulder,  a  narrow  strip  of  white  tape,  and  if  to  the  port  watch, 
the  same  mark  about  his  left  arm.  While  at  sea  he  spends 
alternately  four  hours  on  duty  and  four  below.  During  his 
watch  on  deck  he  takes  his  turn  at  the  lea-wheel  and  at  the 
lookout  from  the  masthead.  In  port  his  day's  duty  is  distin- 
guished somewhat  by  routine.  At  5.30  in  the  morning  the 
bugle  sounds  early  reveille,  and  he  is  allowed  eight  minutes 
in  which  to  dress  himself,  lash  his  hammock,  scramble  up  the 
ladder  to  the  spar  deck  and  deliver  it  to  tlie  "captain  of  tlic 
top,"  who  stows  it  in  the  netting,  and  he  hasn't  a  second  to 
spare,  for  a  late  hammock  results  in  his  being  reported  and 
subsequently  punished.  He  then  goes  to  the  galley  and  gets 
his  cup  of  hot  cocoa  and  a  biscuit,  which  is  designed  to  stay 
his  stomach  until  breakfast  time.     At  6  o'clock  the  boatswain's 


LIFE    OF    NAVAL    APPRENTICES.  23 

mate's  whistle  signals  all  hands  to  "turn  to,"  and  with  trousers 
rolled  above  his  knees  he  assists  in  the  work  of  "holy-stoning," 
scrubbing  and  washing  down  decks.  At  7.50  the  whistles  pipe 
"mess  gear,"  and,  while  the  cooks  get  down  the  tables  and 
benches  from  their  brackets  overhead,  he  joins  a  group  of  his 
shipmates  who  are  gathered  about  a  bucket  of  fresh  water, 
which  some  one  of  the  most  enterprising  of  their  number  has 
purloined  from  the  scuttlebeet,  or  the  galley  coppers,  for  the 
crew  are  only  allowed  fresh  water  for  drinking  purposes,  and, 
stripped  to  the  waist,  makes  his  morning  toilet.  He  has 
barely  had  time  to  undergo  this  process  and  resume  his  dis- 
carded upper  clothing  when  eight  bells  strike,  and  amidst  a 
perfect  pandemonium  of  sounds,  such  as  can  only  be  raised  by 
a  crew  of  hungry  sailor  boys  with  appetites  sharpened  by  the 
exhilarating  work  of  the  morning,  sits  down  with  his  mess- 
mates to  breakfast. 

At  8.30  he  again  turns  to,  cleans  his  share  of  the  gun  and 
deck  bright  work  and  lends  a  hand  in  getting  the  ship  ready 
for  inspection  by  the  executive  officer  at  9  o'clock.  This  in- 
spection, which  is  but  a  preliminary  to  a  more  rigid  one  later 
by  the  commander,  over  with,  the  apprentice  hustles  himself 
into  his  best  mustering  uniform,  which  must  be  spotlessly 
clean  and  correspondingly  neat,  polishes  his  shoes,  and  at  9.30 
falls  in  with  his  division  at  quarters.  Here  he  answers  his 
name  to  the  roll-call,  and  stands  at  attention  as  the  commander 
passes  along  the  line  looking  him  over,  with  the  rest,  in  a 
glance  which  takes  in  everything  from  his  shoes  to  his  gilded 
cap  ribbon.  After  quarters  comes  the  forenoon  drill,  which 
on  general  occasions  may  consist  of  broadsword  exercise,  re- 
volver tactics,  the  manual  of  arms  or  great  gun  drill. 

At  noon  he  is  allowed  an  hour  in  which  to  dine  and  rest 
from  his  late  exertions,  and  at  i  o'clock  must  be  ready  for 
more  drill,  which  lasts  until  4  o'clock,  when  the  decks  are 
swept  down  and  the  remainder  of  the  afternoon  until  supper 
time  employed  at  study.  The  interval  between  supper  at  5.30 
and  hammocks  at  7.30  is  devoted  to  the  setting-up  exercises. 
a  form  of  calisthenics,  recently  introduced  into  the  navy,  after 
which  he  can   skylark,   sing  and  dance  with   the   rest  of  his 


24  lAFE    OF    y.WAI.    AFPRESTK'EH. 

mates  until  8.50,  when  taps  are  sounded,  and  he  must  turn  in 
his  hammock  and  be  quiet  for  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

While  this  is  an  average  day  on  board  of  a  naval  training 
ship,  there  are  not  a  few  which  difTer  widely  therefrom.  There 
are  special  days  set  apart  for  special  customs.  As  an  example, 
Friday  is  almost  invariably  given  over  to  fire  drill  and  the  ex- 
ercises relating  to  "abandon  .ship."  while  upon  other  occa- 
sions, not  necessarily  specified,  the  thorough  inspection  and 
airing  of  bedding  and  spare  clothing  take  place.  Some  days 
will  be  exclusively  devoted  to  sail  and  spar  drill,  while  on 
others  all  drill  will  be  dispensed  with  and  the  crew  set  to  work 
tarring  down  the  rigging,  scraping  spars  or  painting  ship. 

After  two  years  of  instruction,  including  the  period  spent  at 
the  training  station,  the  apprentice  may  be  assigned  to  a  reg- 
ular cruiser  or  battleship  of  the  navy,  where,  in  the  course  of 
time,  the  extent  of  which  varies  according  to  his  abilities,  he  is 
advanced  to  the  rating  of  seaman-apprentice,  with  the  pay  of 
$21  per  month.     He  rarely  fails  to  attain  to  this  capacity  by  the 
time  he  becomes  of  age,  when  he  is  at  liberty  to  give  up  the 
sea  and  choose  another  vocation  in  life,  which  opportunity  he 
is  usually  eager  to  embrace,  for,  as  a  career,  the  navy  holds  out 
but  few  inducements  to  the  American  boy  who  enters  it  as  an 
apprentice.     True,    if   he   re-enlists,    he    may   become   a   petty 
officer,  with  a  salary  ranging  from  $.30  to  $65  per  month,  and  in 
rare  instances  is  advanced  to  the  grade  of  warrant  officer,  such 
as  boatswain   or  gunner,  at   from  $1000  to  $1800  a  year.  Init 
above  this,  whatever  may  be  his  capabilities  or  qualifications, 
he  can  never  rise.     Yet.  as  a  school  of  experience,  wherein  the 
government  is  amply  reimbursed  for  his  education  by  the  years 
of  youthful  energy  he  passee  in  hard  service  on  board  its  ves- 
sels, and  which  may  well  be  said  to  contribute  much  toward 
'•elevating  the  standard  of  the  navy."   the  apprentice  system 
unquestionably    possesses    its    advantages,    and    the    training 
which  enables  the  boy  to  brave  the  gale  at  sea  may  likewise 
fit  him.  as  a  man.  to  weather  the  fierce  monsoons  which  at  one 
time  or  another  arise  in  every  life. 


7i 
W 

n 

w 
> 

I — 1 

O 


> 
CO 


LIFE    AT    WEST    POINT.  27 


CHAPTER    II. 

LIFE    AT    WEST    POINT. 

FROM  REVEILLE  TO  TAPS  AT  THE  MILITARY  ACADEMY — THE 
MAKING  OF  OFFICERS  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY — 
STRICT  DISCIPLINE  AND  HARD  WORK — LOTS  OF  IT  FOR 
TWELVE  HOURS  OUT  OF  TWENTY-FOUR — A  PLEASANT  FEAT- 
URE OF  THE  LIFE  IS  ITS  DEMOCRATIC  EQUALITY — A  PLACE 
WHERE  MANLY  MEN  ARE  MADE — THE  YOUNG  GUARD  OF 
THE   REPUBLIC. 

There  is  no  place  in  the  country  where  the  prospect  of  war 
is  more  eagerly  looked  forward  to  than  at  West  Point.  The 
300  cadets  of  the  United  States  Military  Academy  hope  soon 
to  be  in  the  active  service  of  Uncle  Sam,  and  a  conflict  that 
required  the  services  of  a  large  number  of  troops  would  be 
welcomed  as  offering  chances  for  experience  and  promotion 
that  are  slow  in  coming  to  the  young  soldier  in  time  of  peace. 

If  the  United  States  had  to  raise  a  volunteer  army  to  fight 
against  Spain  or  any  other  country  it  would  be  officered 
chiefly  by  recent  graduates  of  the  West  Point  institution. 
Some  persons  af¥ect  to  believe  that  these  youngsters,  fresh 
from  their  studies,  would  not  be  fitted  for  the  serious  work 
of  war.  But  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  work  required 
of  the  army  boys  at  West  Point  and  with  the  record  of  the  old 
school  in  past  wars  have  no  such  fears. 

The  same  thing  was  said  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War. 
but  when  that  desperate  struggle  had  been  fought  and  fin- 
ished the  men  on  both  sides  who  had  won  rank  and  fame 
were  those  who  had  been  trained  at  West  Point.  Grant,  Sher- 
man, Sheridan.  Lee.  Johnston.  "Stonewall"  Jackson.  McClel- 
lati.  Hooker,  Meade,  were  all  West  Point  men.  Among  those 
in  the  highest  ranks  were  some  who  went  directly  from  their, 
books  to  the  battlefield. 


28  LIFE    ,\r    ir77.vr    POINT. 

There  is  a  reason  why  West  Point  men  are  likely  to  be  the 
leaders  in  any  war  that  may  come  to  the  United  States.  Dis- 
cipline, sound  health  and  scientific  knowledge  are  the  things 
that  are  drilled  into  the  cadet  every  hour  of  the  day  during  his 
four  years'  stay  at  this  military  academy. 

From  the  time  of  his  admission  until  he  graduates  he  must 
submit  to  a  daily  round  of  work  and  discipline  more  rigorous 
than  is  required  of  any  other  schoolboy  in  the  country.  West 
Point  men  become  fit  to  command  because  they  first  learn 
how  to  obey. 

In  West  Point  every  action  of  the  day  moves  with  martial 
step  to  the  command  of  the  bugle.  At  6.30  in  the  morning  its 
shrill  notes  echo  through  the  silent  halls  of  "barracks"  in  the 
reveille  with  its  familiar  refrain. 

"I  can't  get  'em  up.  I  can't  get  'em  up, 
I  can't  ^et  'em  up  in  the  morning." 

Simultaneously  300  boys  tumble  out  of  bed.  hastily  thrust 
themselves  into  shoes  trousers,  coat  and  cap,  and  then  tumble 
downstairs  into  ranks  for  morning  roll-call.  No  matter  how 
sleepy  the  cadet  may  be.  or  how  cold  his  barren  room,  there 
must  be  no  delay,  for  if  he  is  an  instant  behind  at  roll-call  his 
name  will  be  posted  on  the  demerit  list,  and  his  tardiness  must 
be  made  up  for  by  weari*;ome  tramping  along  the  halls  with  a 
gun  across  his  shoulder. 

As  soon  as  the  line  is  formed  the  lordly  first  sergeant  steps 
before  the  company  and  calls  the  roll.  He  rattles  over  the 
seventy  or  eighty  names  as  fast  as  his  tongue  can  wag.  He 
never  uses  the  roll-book;  the  names  are  firmly  fixed  in  his 
mind  by  many  repetitions,  and  he  gets  through  the  list  in  an 
incredibly  short  time.  Then  back  go  the  boys  to  wash,  dress 
and  tidy  up  their  rooms  in  the  half-hour  that  intervenes  be- 
fore breakfast.  The  tidying-up  process  does  not  take  long, 
for  the  rooms  are  bare  of  all  except  the  necessities. 

Each  room  is  shared  by  two  boys,  and  contain  two  study 
tables,  three  uncomfortable  wooden  chairs,  a  wash  bowl  and 
stand,   two   iron   cots   separated   by   a   low   wooden   partition. 


LIFE    AT    WEST    POINT.  29 

Against  the  walls  are  shelves  for  books  and  clothes  and  a  row 
of  iron  hooks.  That  is  all.  No  rugs  on  the  floor,  no  easy 
chairs  or  comfortable  pillows  or  pretty  pictures.  Everything 
is  ruled  by  martial  simplicity,  and  every  room  is  the  same 
whether  it  is  occupied  by  the  son  of  a  millionaire  or  a  wash- 
woman's boy. 

The  two  boys  who  occupy  a  room  take  turns  in  serving  as 
room  orderly,  each  acting  for  a  week  at  a  time.  The  room 
orderly  must  sweep  and  dust  and  care  for  the  room,  and  each 
man  must  keep  his  personal  belongings  in  order.  On  rising 
he  must  carefully  fold  the  bedclothing  and  mattress  at  the 
head  of  his  cot,  range  his  shoes  in  a  regular  line  on  the  floor 
at  the  foot  and  hang  each  article  of  attire  on  its  special  hook 
before  the  inspection  officer  makes  his  rounds.  When  that 
personage  appears  at  the  door  the  two  cadets  stand  at  atten- 
tion while  he  carefully  notes  the  condition  of  the  room.  If 
there  is  a  speck  of  dust  on  the  floor,  a  shoe  out  of  line  or  a 
scrap  of  soiled  linen  in  sight  it  means  demerits  for  the  of- 
fender. Personal  friendship  with  the  inspection  officer  will 
not  help  the  cadet.  The  officer  is  "on  honor"  to  make  an  ac- 
curate report,  and  to  put  a  cadet  on  his  honor  is  better  than 
to  have  his  oath.  Lying  is  a  vice  that  has  no  place  at  West 
Point. 

After  inspection  comes  breakfast,  and  then  there  is  half  an 
hour  for  study  before  recitations  begin,  at  8  o'clock.  From 
8  to  I  are  recitation  and  study  hours.  Each  cadet  has  usually 
three  recitations  a  day,  and  the  classes  are  all  called  and  dis- 
missed by  bugle.  The  boys  line  up  and  march  to  tlie  lecture 
halls  in  a  body  and  are  inspected  by  the  officer  of  the  day  be- 
fore they  are  dismissed.  Between  8  and  i  the  cadet  cannot 
leave  his  room  except  to  go  to  recitations,  and  the  academic 
building  is  as  silent  as  a  country  churchyard,  .save  when  the 
classes  march  to  or  from  their  rooms. 

One  o'clock  is  the  dinner  hour.  The  cadets  form  in  line 
and  march  down  the  street  to  the  long,  low  mess  hall,  where 
they  take  their  places  at  some  thirty  tables  and  fall  upon  the 
roast  beef  and  other  viands  with  as  much  vigor  as  though 
they  were  attacking  an  enemy.     Thirtv  minutes  is  all  the  time 


30  LIFE    AT    WEST    POIXT. 

allowed  for  eating,  and  then  they  march  back  to  barracks  for 
more  study  and  recitations  from  2  until  4. 

At  4  o'clock  mental  labor  ends  for  a  time,  and  fifteen  min- 
utes later  the  roll  of  the  drum  calls  the  cadets  to  arms  and  to 
the  field.  The  next  hour  is  spent  on  the  drill  ground  if  the 
weather  is  pleasant,  or  in  the  armory  if  it  is  not,  in  going 
through  company  drill  and  instruction  on  the  manual  of  arms. 
At  the  same  time  the  cavalrymen,  the  third  class  boys,  are  go- 
ing through  their  evolutions  on  another  part  of  the  field,  sit- 
ting their  horses  with  easy  grace  and  putting  the  lively 
steeds  through  all  their  paces. 

Drill  ends  at  5.20.  unless  it  is  parade  day.  In  that  case  the 
cadets  are  out  again  in  twenty  minutes,  having  changed  to 
their  dress  uniforms  in  the  meantime.  The  band  appears,  led 
by  the  mighty  drum-major,  and  marches  across  the  field  be- 
fore the  long  line  of  silent  cadets,  all  standing  at  parade  rest, 
not  the  variation  of  a  fraction  of  an  inch  in  their  positions. 
The  blare  of  martial  music,  the  long  plumes  of  the  reviewing 
officers  and  the  bright  red  sashes  of  the  officer  cadets  lend  an 
element  of  life  and  color  to  the  dress  parade  that  makes  it 
always  an  inspiriting  sight. 

Then,  as  the  sun  sinks  behind  the  rugged  barrier  of  the 
Hudson  hills,  the  boom  of  the  sunset  gun  echoes  across  the 
river,  the  starry  flag  comes  drifting  slowly  down  from  the  tall 
flagpole,  and  the  "Star-Spangled  Banner,"  softly  played  by  the 
band,  floats  across  the  field,  while  the  gray  line  still  stands 
silently  at  parade  rest,  and  the  enlisted  men  of  the  post,  who 
are  lounging  about  on  the  old  cannon,  remove  their  caps  in  a 
reverent  attitude  of  attention.  Tt  is  a  daily  lesson  of  honor 
and  respect  to  the  beloved  emblem  for  which  scores  of  brave 
West  Pointers  have  laid  down  their  lives  in  the  past,  a  lesson 
that  is  not  lost  on  the  young  men  in  gray. 

Now  sharp-spoken  orders  ring  across  the  field,  the  line  stirs 
into  motion  once  more,  and  the  men  march  back  to  barracks. 
.\  brief  breathing  spell,  the  one  hour  of  the  twenty-four  the 
cadet  can  call  his  own,  follows  before  supper. 

Half  an  hour  after  supper  comes  the  "call  tn  (lU'H'ter.^." 
which  means  th?it  evcrv  man  must  return  to  liis  room  and  to 


LIFE    AT    WE8T    POIS'T.  33 

his  study  on  the  morrow's  lesson.  The  sentries  make  their 
rounds  of  inspection  and  quiet  reigns  until  9.15,  when  "tatto" 
warns  the  tired  youngsters  to  prepare  for  bed.  Fifteen  min- 
utes later  the  slow  roll  of  "taps"  sounds,  the  lights  go  out  in 
the  old  academic  building,  and  sleep  assumes  the  commaml 
of  the  young  guard  of  the  republic. 

There  are  no  vacations  at  West  Point.  Except  lor  a  few 
weeks  at  the  close  of  the  third  year  the  cadet  is  not  allowed  a 
leave  of  absence  during  the  four  years'  course.  But  from  the 
middle  of  June  to  the  end  of  August  books  are  laid  aside  and 
the  boys  go  into  camp  in  the  little  grove  at  one  side  of  the 
campus.  Tent  life  is  always  welcome,  but  it  can  scarcely  be 
looked  upon  as  a  holiday.  Reveille  sounds  at  5.30  in  the 
morning,  and  every  moment  of  the  day  is  occupied  by  some 
military  duty.  There  is  troop  parade  every  morning  after 
breakfast,  after  that  the  daily  guard  mount,  and  then  two 
hours  of  infantry  drill.  Then  the  fourth  class  men.  the  plebes, 
tramp  away  to  Washington  Valley  and  spend  an  hour  in  re- 
ceiving instruction  in  swimming,  the  third  class  men  have 
artillery  drill,  and  the  first  class,  the  seniors,  have  target  prac- 
tice.    The  afternoon  is  filled  with  more  drill. 

In  spite  of  the  Spartan  discipline  maintained  and  the  un- 
ceasing round  of  drill  and  study,  there  is  plenty  of  fun  for  the 
cadets.  To  the  hoy  of  athletic  tastes  the  practice  in  swimming, 
fencing  and  riding  comes  under  that  head.  There  are  offi- 
cers" hops  twice  a  week,  which  bring  pretty  girls  from  all 
along  the  river,  and  graduation  week  is  a  bright  oasis  in  the 
year,  made  gay  by  a  small  army  of  sisters,  aunts  and  cousins, 
who  overflow  the  place. 

One  pleasant  feature  of  West  Point  life  is  its  democratic 
equality.  If  a  man  is  a  gentleman  he  stands  as  well  as  any  of 
his  fellows.  Each  cadet  receives  $540  per  year  from  the  gov- 
ernment. Out  of  that  he  must  buy  his  clothes  and  rations 
from  the  commissary  department.  He  is  allowed  to  receive 
money  from  outside  only  in  exceptional  cases.  There  can  be 
no  dififercncc  in  dress  or  style  of  living,  and  this  spirit  of 
equality,  r-nforced  by  the  rules,  is  accepted  by  all  the  men. 

West   Point   is   no  place   for  a  young  man   who  has   not  a 


34  LIFE    ±T    WEtiT    POIXT. 

natural  aptitude  for  a  military  career.  To  others  the  stern 
requirements  of  the  studies,  the  strict  discipline  which  never 
relaxes,  will  become  unbearable,  and  the  pile  of  demerits  that 
he  can  pick  up  for  "gazing  about  in  ranks,"  having  an  "odor 
of  cigarette  in  his  room,"  or  "appearing  at  parade  with  soilf'd 
gloves"  will  soon  send  him  back  home.  Nearlj'  half  of  those 
who  enter  the  academy  fail  for  one  reason  or  another  to  com- 
plete the  course. 

West  Point  is  a  place  where  manly  men  are  made,  and  the 
only  material  for  that  purpose  is  found  in  manly  boys.  Uncle 
Sam  has  no  use  for  any  other  kind. 


RLLEH    TO    COVERS    WAR.  35 


CHAPTER    III. 
BULBS   TO    GOVERN    WAB. 

THEV  HAVE  BEEN  AUOFTEU  TO  MITIGATE  ITS  HORRORS — THE 
RED  CROSS  AND  ITS  WORK— THE  AGREEMENTS  OF  THE  CON- 
VENTION  AT   GENEVA — RULES    OF    NAVAL    WARFARE. 

What  are  the  rules  governing  the  rights  of  nations  and  indi- 
viduals in  modern  warfare,  and  the  methods  of  carrying  on 

war? 

One  broad  principle  of  modern  warfare  is  that  no  neutral 
nation  shall  give  aid  of  any  nature  to  the  combatants.  The 
world  is  supposed  to  stand  aside  and  let  the  belligerents  finish 
their  quarrel  unaided,  and  on  their  own  resources.  Theoret- 
ically, at  least,  this  would  be  done  in  the  case  of  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Spain. 

According  to  principles  of  international  law.  no  nation 
could  sell  either  country  any  ships,  supplies  or  ammunitions 
after  war  had  been  declared,  nor  lend  either  country  any 
money  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  war.  Neither 
could  any  neutral  nation  allow  fighting  within  her  waters,  or 
the  landing  of  troops  on  her  shores  for  the  purpose  of  trans- 
portation, or  any  other  purpose,  except  they  be  driven  there 
by  stress  of  weather,  or  to  escape  annihilation.  Then  they 
should  be  disarmed  or  returned  over  the  border. 

A  leading  principle  of  naval  warfare  is  that  the  commerce 
of  each  contending  nation  is  lawful  prey  for  the  other,  and 
in  the  case  of  both  the  United  States  and  Spain,  privateers 
might  be  fitted  out  lawfully  by  either  to  prey  on  the  merchant 
vessels  of  the  other. 

One  of  the  blessings  in  the  spirit  of  humanity  in  modern 
warfare  is  the  ministration  allowed  to  wounded  soldiers, 
without  regard  to  country  or  flag,  by  the  members  of  the  Red 


36  RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

Cross   Society,  who  are   now   classed   as   non-combatants   by 
every  civilized  nation  on  the  globe. 


A    SAFEGUARD. 

The  red  cross,  on  a  white  ground,  worn  on  the  arm.  or 
appearing  on  the  flag  of  a  hospital  corps,  is  a  safeguard  to 
the  bearers,  who  are  allowed  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  the 
wounded  on  the  field  or  within  the  lines  of  both  contending 
armies.  Even  in  the  savage  fighting  of  the  taking  of  Port 
Arthur  by  the  Japanese  the  Red  Cross  surgeons  and  nurses 
were  respected  and  protected  wherever  they  went. 

No  thought  of  modern  war  can  come  to  the  mind  without 
being  accompanied  by  a  thought  of  the  great  good  accom- 
plished by  the  history-making  convention  of  Geneva.  The 
agreement  of  the  convention  of  Geneva  was  signed  August 
22.  1864,  by  the  representatives  of  France.  Switzerland.  Bel- 
gium, Portugal.  Holland,  Italy.  Spain.  Denmark.  Baden  and 
Prussia,  and  the  Red  Cross  Society,  so-called  because  of  the 
symbol  of  mercy  then  adopted,  became  a  power  in  the  world. 

Its  principle  was  the  neutralization  and  the  exemption  from 
the  casualties  of  war  of  all  persons,  vehicles  and  buildings  de- 
voted to  the  care  of  sick  and  wounded  members  of  contending 
armies.  The  fir.st  ten  signers  of  the  agreement  were  quickly 
followed  by  others,  until  now  the  Red  Cross  is  entrenched  in 
every  part  of  the  civilized  globe.  Every  army  surgeon  and 
nurse  becomes,  on  taking  up  his  or  her  duty,  a  member  of 
the  society  and  a  wearer  of  its  symbol. 

The  articles  of  the  original  agreement  of  the  Geneva  con- 
vention were  in  substance  as  follows: 

1.  No  distinction  is  to  be  made  in  nationality  in  caring  for 
sick  and  wounded.  Natives  of  an  invaded  country  that  bring 
aid  to  them  shall  be  free  to  come  and  go.  If  they  receive  the 
wounded  into  their  houses  they  shall  be  exempt  from  quar- 
tering troops  and  from  military  contributions. 

2.  Ambulances,  hospitals  and  their  personnel  shall  be  recog- 
nized as  neutral,  and  be  marked  by  a  distinctive  flag  or  arni 
badge.     These  shall  both  bear  a  red  cross  on  a  white  ground. 


RULES    TO    GOTERX    WAR.  39 

The  flag  shall  be  accompanied  by  a  national  flag.  The  mate- 
rial in  military  hospitals  remains  subject  to  the  laws  of  war. 
When  ambulances  and  hospitals  come  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  attaches  may  return  to  their  own  army  with  their  per- 
sonal effects.  Sick  and  wounded  who  come  into  the  power 
of  the  enemy,  when  cured,  shall  be  returned  to  their  own 
country,  if  incapable  of  service.  Otherwise  they  shall  be 
paroled. 

These  original  articles  were  a  few  years  ago  added  to  in 
order  that  they  might  extend  to  floating  hospitals  in  use  in 
the  navies  or  in  river  and  harbor  engagements. 


THREE    OTHER    CONVENTIONS. 

There  have  been  three  important  conventions  besides  the 
Geneva  convention  in  the  last  half-century,  looking  toward 
the  codification  of  the  rules  of  warfare.     They  are: 

The  congress  of  Paris,  held  in  1856.  for  the  purpose  of 
arriving  at  an  international  agreement  in  regard  to  privateer- 
ing and  naval  warfare. 

The  convention  of  St.  Petersburg,  1868,  in  which  sixteen 
nations  joined  in  a  declaration  relating  to  the  expediency  of 
forbidding  the  use  of  certain  forms  of  explosive  bullets. 

The  conference  of  Brussels,  called  by  the  Emperor  of  Rus- 
sia in  1874,  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  codification  of  rules 
governing  modern  warfare. 

The  United  States  was  not  a  party  to  any  one  of  these  con- 
ventions. The  articles  of  the  declaration  of  Paris  are  as 
follows: 

"I.  Privateering  is  and  remains  abolished. 

"2.  The  neutral  flag  covers  enemy's  goods,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  contraband  of  war. 

"3.  Neutral  goods,  with  the  exception  of  contraband  of 
war,  are  not  liable  to  capture  under  an  enemy's  flag. 

"4.  Blockades,  in  order  to  be  binding,  must  be  effective — 
that  is  to  say,  maintained  by  a  force  sufficient  to  prevent  ac- 
cess to  the  coast. 


40  RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

"This  declaration  shall  not  be  binding  except  on  those 
powers  that  have  acceded  or  shall  accede  to  it." 

The  United  States  and  Spain,  strangely  enough,  in  the 
present  crisis,  are  the  two  chief  powers  who  have  not  agreed 
to  the  whole  of  this  declaration.  Mexico  is  also  not  a  party 
to  it.  As  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  it  will  be 
seen  that  in  case  of  war  the  shipping  of  either  country  would 
be  subject  to  attack  by  privateers,  and  the  loss  might  be  enor- 
mous. The  United  States  recognized  all  the  articles  of  the 
Paris  declaration  except  the  first. 

The  St.  Petersburg  declaration  was  in  substance  that  the 
employment  of  any  projectile,  weapon  or  explosive  in  war- 
fare which  might  "uselessly  aggravate  the  sufferings  of 
wounded  men  or  render  their  death  inevitable,"  was  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  humanity.  It  laid  down  the  principle  that  the 
object  of  war  is  to  disable  the  greatest  number  possible,  but 
not  to  render  wounds  incurable  or  increase  their  severity. 
The  use  of  explosive  balls  less  than  400  grammes  (about  one 
pound)  in  weight  was  forbidden.  The  United  States  is  not  a 
party  to  this  declaration,  which  is  reciprocal  between  the 
signing  parties. 

Till-;    BRUSSELS    CONFERENCE. 

The  Brussels  conference  met  without  any  representative  of 
the  United  States  present.  The  signing  of  a  general  agree- 
ment on  rules  of  warfare  was  frustrated  through  the  disagree- 
ment of  some  of  the  powers  over  a  clause  relating  to  the 
right  of  inhabitants  of  an  invaded  country  to  rise  en  masse  in 
their  own  defence.  The  result  of  the  conference  was  for  the 
betterment  of  the  conditions  of  war.  however,  as  many  of 
the   rules   laid  down   have   been   since   incorporated    in    othcr 

codes. 

Every  nation  necessarily  has  its  own  minor  rules  for  war. 
and  in  the  case  of  most  nations  they  are  in  conformity  with  the 
regulations  laid  down  by  the  various  international  agreements 
of  recent  times. 

The  rules  for  war  in  use  by  the  United  States  Government 


ItULEti    TO    GOVERN    WAR.  41 

are  codified  in  a  mam:al  called  "Instruction  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  Forces  in  the  Field."  This  work 
is  compiled  by  Dr.  Francis  Lieber.  It  was  the  first  war  code 
in  the  strict  sense  ever  adopted  by  a  nation. 

One  of  its  provisions  is  regarding  the  kind  of  weapons  to 
be  used.  Greater  latitude  is  given  for  sea  warfare  than  for 
that  on  land,  as  the  use  of  all  kinds  of  torpedoes  is  counte- 
nanced in  the  various  international  agreements,  while  certain 
kinds  of  weapons  are  barred.  Those  condemned  are  such  as 
would  inflict  ghastly  wounds  and  cause  unnecessary  suffering. 
The  use  of  poison  on  weapons  or  otherwise  is  also  forbidden 
by  the  usages  of  modern  warfare. 

The  employment  of  savage  or  half-civilized  troops  is  not 
allowed  by  international  agreement.  Perfidy  and  solicitation 
to  commit  crime  are  not  allowed.  Military  necessity,  the 
United  States  war  rules  declare,  admits  "of  such  deception 
as  does  not  involve  the  breaking  of  good  faith." 

Again,  the  rules  say:  "Military  necessity  does  not  admit 
of  cruelty — that  is,  the  infliction  of  sufYering  for  the  sake  of 
suffering  or  for  revenge,  nor  of  maiming  or  wounding  except 
in  fight,  nor  of  torture  to  extort  confessions." 

It  further  does  not  admit  of  the  wanton  devastation  of  an 
invaded  district.  The  inhabitants  of  invaded  districts  are  not 
to  be  molested  in  person  or  property  so  long  as  they  refrain 
from  hostile  acts. 

PRISONERS    OF    WAR. 

Prisoners  of  war  must  be  humanely  treated.  Officers  may 
be  paroled.  Deserters  found  with  the  enemy  may  be  dealt 
with  as  having  committed  a  high  crime.  Irregular  troops, 
or  guerrillas,  who  put  on  and  take  off  the  character  of  sol-, 
dier,  may  be  treated  when  taken  prisoner  with  added  severity. 

Private  property  can  be  seized  only  in  case  of  military 
necessity,  for  the  support  and  benefit  of  the  army  or  navy. 
For  property  so  taken  a  receipt  must  be  given  the  owner, 
who  may  make  it  a  basis  for  indemnity.  As  already  shown, 
hospitals  are  exempt  from  the  seizure  of  a  hostile  army. 


42  RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

Works  of  art  and  public  buildings  are  not  to  be  wantonly 
destroyed,  nor  are  any  works  of  art  to  be  taken  away  by  the 
invading  army.  Booty  taken  on  the  field  is  considered  the 
property  of  the  conquering  army,  but  the  personal  property 
of  prisoners  is  not  subject  to  seizure.  Large  sums  found  on 
the  persons  of  prisoners  may  be  confiscated,  after  enough  has 
been  left  for  the  needs  of  the  prisoner.  This  is  a  great  ad- 
vance from  the  days  when  Napoleon  looted  the  treasuries  and 
art  galleries  of  Europe. 

There  are  not  many  rules  laid  down  to  govern  war  on  sea 
as  in  tlie  case  with  war  on  land.  Certain  well-defined  prin- 
ciples exist,  however,  concerning  the  bombardment  of  an 
enemy's  coast,  that  are  interesting  to  note  at  the  present  time. 

In  the  case  of  unfortified  towns,  it  is  generally  expected 
that  a  hostile  fleet  shall  leave  them  in  security,  owing  to  their 
weakness  and  the  fact  that  their  inhabitants  are  non-combat- 
ants, and  proceed  to  cities  that  are  protected  by  fortifications 
or  otherwise,  which  are  manned  by  fighting  men. 

When  a  bombardment  is  to  take  place  the  citizens  of  the 
place  to  be  fired  upon  should  be  warned  by  the  admiral  of  the 
hostile  fleet  that  so  many  hours  will  be  given  non-combat- 
ants to  get  out.  There  is  no  definite  rule  regarding  this,  but 
it  is  made  necessary  in  order  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  the 
various  codes  based  on  the  said  Brussels  and  other  declara- 
tions regarding  the  rights  of  property  and  persons. 

In  the  case  of  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria,  the  most 
recent  of  modern  times,  the  inhabitants  were  warned  July  lo, 
1882,  that  the  British  fleet  would  begin  to  fire  on  the  rebel- 
lious forts  the  next  day.  That  gave  time  for  all  persons  so 
desiring  to  leave  the  city.  The  bombardment  lasted  two 
days.  The  forts  were  silenced  and  much  of  the  city  reduced 
to  ruins,  though  its  destruction  was  not  due  entirely  to  the 
bombardment. 

RULES  AS  TO  NAVAL  WARFARE. 

In  the  case  of  naval  engagements  there  are  no  rules  laid 
down  as  to  how  they  shall  be  begun,  or  where  they  shall  be 


GEN.    PITZHUGH    LEE. 


RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR.  45 

fought,  except  that  they  cannot  take  place  in  neutral  waters. 
If  ships  engaged  in  battle  are  off  a  neutral  coast,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  engagement  they  steam  or  drift  inside  the  three- 
mile  limit,  they  must  cease  firing;  or  if  one  of  them  is  chased 
into  neutral  waters  within  the  three-mile  limit,  the  other 
cannot  molest  her  there. 

The  ships  of  belligerents  are  not  supposed  to  go  into  the 
harbors  of  neutral  ports  except  in  case  of  necessity,  occa- 
sioned by  stress  of  weather,  sickness  on  the  part  of  her  crew 
or  need  of  coal.  It  may  be  said  that  this  rule  has  in  the  past 
been  one  of  the  most  often  broken.  Two  nations  that  have 
allowed  their  ports  to  be  used  freely  by  belligerents,  as  well 
as  their  waters  to  be  the  theater  of  war.  are  Brazil  and 
Portugal. 

In  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  England  allowed  privateers  to 
be  fitted  out  on  her  territory  and  to  sail  from  her  ports  to 
prey  upon  the  commerce  of  the  Union.  There  were  no  less 
than  thirteen  of  them,  of  which  the  Alabama  was  the  most 
destructive  to  our  shipping.  After  the  award  of  the  Alabama 
claims  against  England,  the  laws  of  the  United  Kingdom  wert- 
made  more  stringent  in  regard  to  the  fitting  out  of  privateer- 
ing vessels  in  British  ports. 

The  treaty  concluded  between  the  United  States  and  Eng- 
land in  May,  1871,  contained  articles  of  agreement  between 
the  two  countries  that  are  now  practically  incorporated  in  the 
laws  that  govern  all  nations.     They  are: 

"i.  A  neutral  government  is  bound  first  to  use  due  dili- 
gence to  prevent  the  departure  from  its  jurisdiction  of  any 
vessel  intended  to  cruise  or  carry  on  war  against  a  power  with 
which  it  is  at  peace;  and  also  to  use  like  diligence  to  prevent 
the  departure  from  its  jurisdiction  of  any  vessel  intended  to 
cruise  or  carry  on  war,  as  above,  such  vessel  having  been 
especially  adapted,  in  whole  or  in  part,  within  such  jurisdic- 
tion to  war-like  use. 

"2.  Not  to  permit  or  sufTer  either  belligerent  to  make  use 
of  its  ports  or  waters  as  the  base  of  naval  operations  against 
the  other,  or  for  the  purpose  of  the  renewal  or  augmentation 
of  military  supplies  or  arms,  or  the  recruitment  of  men. 


46  IWLEti    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

"3.  To  exercise  due  diligence  in  its  own  ports  and  waters, 
and  as  to  all  persons  within  its  jurisdiction,  to  prevent  any 
violations  of  the  foregoing  obligations  or  duties." 

Coal  is  the  only  commodity  of  war  that  can  be  bought  in 
the  port  of  a  neutral  government  by  a  ship  of  war,  and  then 
only  such  an  amount  can  be  bought  as  will  take  the  ship  to 
the  nearest  coaling  port  in  her  own  country. 

PURCHASE    OF    SHIPS    OF    WAR. 

Any  nation  has  the  right  to  buy  ships  of  war  where  it 
pleases  in  time  of  peace.  In  case  of  war  this  right  ceases,  so 
far  as  buying  ships  of  neutrals  is  concerned. 

Neither  can  a  nation  which  is  neutral  loan  money  to  a  bel- 
ligerent nation  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  a  war  with  an- 
other nation.  In  the  case  of  a  subject  of  a  neutral  nation 
making  a  war  loan  to  a  belligerent,  he  does  it  at  his  own  risk 
and  against  the  law.  It  has  been  ruled  in  the  courts  of  both 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  that  no  legal  recovery 
can  be  made  for  such  debts,  in  case  the  debtor  refuses  to  pay. 

It  goes  without  saying,  however,  that  so  long  as  a  nation 
has  collateral  to  put  up  it  can  borrow  money  in  time  of  war. 
There  are  plenty  of  ways  in  which  international  law  can  be 
circumvented,  both  in  the  case  of  borrowing  money  and  of 
buying  ships. 

In  relation  to  the  latter,  the  sale  of  two  ships  by  Chili  to 
Japan  in  the  late  Oriental  war  is  a  good  instance  of  how  easily 
the  thing  can  be  done. 

Chili  had  two  war  vessels  that  Japan  wanted.  Chili  was  at 
peace  with  Cliina,  then  at  war  with  Japan,  and  she  could  not 
sell  the  ships  directly  to  Japan.  The  ships  were  the  Esmer- 
alda and  the  Arturo  Prat.  The  first  thing  known  by  the 
public  of  the  sale  was  that  the  ships  had  been  bought  by  the 
New  York  house  of  Charles  B.  Flint  &  Co..  who  may  be 
called  the  financial  guardian  of  half  of  the  governments  of 
South  America. 

This  firm  sold  the  ships  to  Bolivia.  It  happens  that  Bo- 
livia has  no  navy,  not  being  a  maritime  nation,  and  she  was, 


RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR.  47 

therefore,  not  amenable  to  the  laws  between  maritime  na- 
tions. She  could,  therefore,  sell  the  ships  to  Japan,  which 
she  did.  as  the  agent  of  the  New  York  house  that  acted  as 
the  brokers  in  the  transactions  between  Chili  and  Japan.  The 
ships  were  renamed  by  the  Japanese,  being  christened  the 
Idzumi  and  Tsukushi,  respectively.  The  transaction  was 
never  called  into  question  by  China,  and  probably  wotild  not 
have  been  had  that  nation  been  the  victor  instead  of  the 
vanquished. 

PRIVATEERING     IS     LAWFUL. 

The  declaration  of  Paris  was  intended  to  revolutionize  the 
methods  of  sea  warfare.  It  accomplished  that  purpose  so  far 
as  the  signing  powers  were  concerned,  but  it  had  no  effect  on 
the  United  States. 

This  government  took  the  ground  that  it  could  not  afford 
to  give  up  the  right  to  send  out  privateers  to  prey  on  an 
enemy's  commerce,  owing  to  its  small  navy.  Privateers 
would  be  a  powerful  arm  of  the  naval  service  in  time  of  war. 
It  is  true  that  after  the  Civil  War  broke  out  the  government 
made  overtures  to  have  the  four  rules  of  the  declaration  apply 
to  this  country,  but  it  was  with  the  provision  that  the  signers 
of  the  declaration  agree  to  the  exemption  of  all  innocent  goods 
of  enemies  from  capture.  The  signers  thought  that  if  this 
privilege  was  granted  it  would  shield  the  North  from  the 
privateers  of  the  South,  and  as  France  and  England  had  rec- 
ognized the  belligerency  of  the  South,  they  declined  to  accede 
to  the  request  of  the  United  States. 

The  declaration  of  Paris  applying  only  to  those  who  signed 
it,  the  ships  of  the  United  States  are  subject  to  capture  by 
the  privateers  of  any  and  all  nations,  as  well  as  those  of  Spain. 
France  could  not  send  out  privateers  against  England,  for  ex- 
ample, in  time  of  war,  but  were  she  at  war  with  us,  she  could 
send  them  out  against  us.  in  spite  of  her  agreement  with 
England  anc'  other  powers. 

Spain  being  bound  to  none  of  the  powers,  she  could  send 
out  privateers  against  any  or  all  in  time  of  war.     She  would 


48  RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

find  it  difficult  to  inflict  any  national  damage  on  the  coast- 
wise commerce  of  the  United  States,  owing  to  the  distance 
from  her  base  of  supplies.  The  alarm  often  expressed  on 
this  score  has  little  foundation. 

Privateers  are  allowed  to  take  their  prizes  into  their  own 
ports,  and  turn  them  over  to  the  proper  authorities,  the  courts 
1)eing  called  on  to  award  the  prize  money.  They  are  sup- 
posed to  carry  on  a  humane  ^varfarc.  They  are  not  wan- 
tonly to  destroy  vessels  or  goods  when  port  can  be  reached, 
but  it  is  a  common  usage  that  when  a  prize  cannot  be  brought 
to  port  she  is  to  be  burned. 

■  Prisoners  are   to  be   humanely   treated   when   taken   by  the 
privateers. 

WAR   AS   TO    RETALIATION. 

On  the  subject  of  retaliation,  instructions  are  set  forth  as 
follows:  Peace  is  the  normal  condition  of  nations;  war  is  the 
exception.  The  ultimate  object  of  all  modern  war  is  a  renewed 
state  of  peace.  The  more  vigorously  wars  are  pursued  the  bet- 
ter it  is  for  humanity.     Sharp  wars  are  brief. 

Ever  since  the  formation  and  coexistence  of  modern  na- 
tions, and  ever  since  wars  have  become  great  national  wars, 
war  has  come  to  be  acknowledged,  not  to  be  its  own  end,  but 
the  means  to  obtain  great  ends  of  state  or  to  consist  in  defence 
against  wrong,  and  no  conventional  restriction  of  the  modes 
adopted  to  injure  the  enemy  is  any  longer  admitted;  but  the 
law  of  war  imposes  many  limitations  and  restrictions  on  prin- 
ciples of  justice,  faith  and  honor. 

The  law  of  war  can  no  more  wholly  dispense  with  retalia- 
tion than  can  the  law  of  nations,  of  which  it  is  a  branch.  Yet 
civilized  nations  acknowledge  retaliation  as  the  sternest  feat- 
ure of  war.  A  reckless  enemy  often  leaves  to  his  opponent  no 
other  means  of  securing  himself  against  tlie  repetition  of  bar- 
barous outrage.  Retaliation  will,  therefore,  never  be  resorted 
to  as  a  measure  of  mere  revenge,  but  only  as  a  means  of  pro- 
tective retribution,  and.  moreover,  cautiously  and  unavoidably. 
That  is  to  say,  retaliation  shall  only  be  resorted  to  after  care- 


o 


vj 


o 

—J 

o 


RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR.  51 

ful  inquiry  into  the  real  occurrence  and  the  character  of  the 
misdeeds  that  may  command  retribution. 

Unjust  or  inconsiderate  retaUation  removes  the  belligerants 
further  and  further  from  the  mitigating  rules  of  a  regular  war 
and  by  rapid  steps  leads  them  nearer  to  the  internecine  wars 
of  savages. 

PROTECTION    TO    PROPERTY    AND    PERSON. 

In  this  connection,  under  the  rules  of  law,  a  victorious  army 
appropriates  all  public  money,  seizes  all  public  movable  prop- 
erty until  further  direction  by  its  government,  and  sequesters 
for  its  own  benefit  or  that  of  its  government  all  the  revenues 
of  real  property  belonging  to  the  hostile  nation  or  govern- 
ment. As  a  general  rule,  however,  the  property  belonging  to 
churches  or  hospitals,  educational  or  charitable  institutions 
shall  not  be  considered  public  property. 

The  United  States  acknowledge  and  protect  in  hostile  coun- 
tries occupied  by  them  religion  and  morality,  strictly  private 
property,  the  persons  of  the  inhabitants,  especially  those  of 
women,  and  the  sacredness  of  domestic  relations.  Offences 
to  the  contrary  shall  be  rigorously  punished.  Private  prop- 
erty, unless  forfeited  by  crimes  or  by  the  offences  of  the 
owner,  can  be  seized  only  by  way  of  military  necessity  for  the 
support  or  other  benefit  of  the  army  of  the  United  States. 

All  wanton  violence  committed  against  persons  in  the  in- 
vaded country,  all  destruction  of  property,  unless  authorized 
by  the  commanding  ofificer;  all  robbery,  all  pillage  or  sacking. 
even  after  taking  a  place  by  main  force:  all  rape,  wounding, 
maiming  or  killing  of  such  inhabitants,  are  prohibited  under 
the  penalty  of  death  or  such  other  severe  ptmishment  as  may 
seem  adequate  for  the  gravity  of  the  offence. 

A  soldier,  ofificer  or  private,  in  the  act  of  committing  such 
violence  and  disobeying  a  superior  ordering  him  to  abstain 
from  it  may  be  lawfully  killed  on  the  spot  by  such  superior. 

DESERTERS   AND    PRISONERS    OF    WAR. 

Deserters  from  the  United  States  army,  having  entered  the 


52  RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

service  of  the  enemy,  suffer  death  if  they  fall  again  into  the 
hands  of  the  United  States.  A  prisoner  of  war  is  a  public 
enemy  armed  or  attached  to  the  hostile  army  for  active  aid. 
who  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  captor,  either  fighting  or 
wounded,  on  the  field  or  in  the  hospital,  by  individual  surren- 
der or  capitulation.  Citizens  who  accompany  an  army,  such 
as  sutlers,  reporters  or  contractors,  if  captured,  may  be  made 
prisoners  of  war  and  be  detained  as  such. 

The  enemy's  chaplains,  surgeons,  apothecaries,  hospital 
nurses  and  servants,  if  they  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Ameri- 
can army,  are  not  prisoners  of  war  unless  the  commander  has 
reason  to  retain  them.  A  prisoner  of  war  is  subject  to  no 
punishment  for  being  a  public  enemy,  nor  is  any  revenge 
wreaked  upon  him  by  the  intentional  infliction  of  any  suffer- 
ing or  disgrace  by  cruel  imprisonment,  want  of  food,  mutila- 
tion, death  or  any  other  barbarity. 

Prisoners  of  war  are  subject  to  confinement  or  imprison- 
ment such  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  on  account  of  safety. 
They  may  be  required  to  work  for  the  benefit  of  the  captor's 
government,  according  to  their  rank  and  condition.  Those 
who  attempt  to  escape  may  be  killed  in  flight.  In  case  of  a 
conspiracy  for  the  purpose  of  a  general  escape  the  conspirators 
may  be  rigorously  punished,  even  widi  death. 

Outposts,  sentinels  or  pickets  are  not  to  be  fired  upon,  ex- 
cept to  drive  them  in  or  when  a  positive  order,  specified  or 
general,  has  been  issued  to  that  effect.  The  use  of  poison  in 
any  manner  is  wholly  excluded  from  modern  warfare,  and  he 
who  uses  it  pl.nces  himself  out  of  the  pale  of  the  law  and  usages 
of  war. 

Whoever  mtentionally  ir.tlicts  additional  wounds  on  an  en- 
emy already  disabled,  or  kills  such  an  enemy,  or  who  orders 
and  encourages  soldiers  to  do  so,  shall  suffer  death,  if  duly 
convicted,  whether  he  belongs  to  the  army  of  the  United 
States  or  is  .111  enemy  captured  after  having  committed  his 
misdeed. 

SPIES  AND  FLAGS  OF  TRUCE. 
Scouts  or   single   soldiers,   if  disguised   in   the   dress  of  the 


RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR.  53 

country  or  in  the  uniform  of  the  army  hostile  to  cheir  own, 
employed  in  obtaining  information,  if  found  within  or  lurk- 
ing about  the  lines  of  the  captor,  are  treated  as  spies  and 
sufifer  death.  Armed  prowlers,  by  whatever  names  they  may 
be  called,  or  persons  of  the  enemy's  territory  who  steal  within 
the  lines  of  the  hostile  army  for  the  purpose  of  robbing,  kill- 
ing or  of  destroying  bridges,  roads,  canals  or  telegraph  wires 
are  not  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  the  prisoner  of  war. 

A  spy  is  defined  as  a  person  who  secretly,  in  disguise  or 
under  false  pretences,  seeks  information  with  the  intention  of 
communicating  it  to  the  enemy.  The  spy  is  punishable  with 
death  by  hanging  by  the  neck,  whether  or  not  he  succeeds  in 
obtaining  the  information  or  in  conveying  it  to  the  enemy. 
If  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  obtains  information  in  a  legit- 
imate manner,  and  betrays  it  to  the  enemy,  be  he  a  military 
or  civil  ofificer  or  a  private  citizen,  he  shall  suffer  death.  The 
law  of  war,  like  the  criminal  law  regarding  other  offences, 
makes  no  difference  on  account  of  the  difference  of  sexes  con- 
cerning the  spy  or  the  traitor. 

The  bearer  of  a  flag  of  truce  cannot  insist  upon  being  ad- 
mitted. He  must  always  be  admitted  with  great  caution.  Un- 
necessary frequency  is  to  be  carefully  avoided.  If  the  bearer 
of  a  flag  of  truce  offer  himself  during  an  engagement,  he  can 
be  admitted  as  a  very  rare  exception.  It  is  no  breach  of  good 
faith  to  retain  such  a  flag  of  truce,  if  admitted  during  an  en- 
gagement. Firing  is  not  required  to  cease  on  the  appearance 
of  a  flag  of  truce  in  battle. 

If  the  bearer  of  a  flag  of  truce,  presenting  himself  during 
an  engagement,  is  killed  or  wounded,  it  furnishes  no  ground 
of  complaint  whatever.  If  it  be  discovered,  and  fairly  proved, 
that  a  flag  of  truce  has  been  abused  for  surreptitiously  obtain- 
ing military  knowledge  the  bearer  of  the  flag  is  deemed  a  spy. 

It  is  customary  to  designate  by  certain  flags,  usually  yellow, 
the  hospitals  in  places  which  are  shelled,  so  that  the  besieging 
army  may  avoid  firing  on  them.  It  is  justly  considered  an  act 
of  bad  faith  to  deceive  the  enemy  by  flags  of  protection.  Such 
acts  of  bad  faith  may  be  good  cause  for  refusing  to  respect 
such  flags. 


54  RULES    TO    GOVERN    WAR. 

In  the  matter  of  naval  warfare  the  laws  of  war  are  not  so 
clearly  defined.  This  is  natural,  inasmuch  as  the  possible  loss 
to  personal  property  is  not  so  great,  and  at  sea  only  those 
directly  implicated  in  the  engagements  are  to  be  considered. 
There  are  no  non-combatants  in  naval  warfare. 

The  main  issue  is  that  of  privateering.  By  the  declaration 
of  Paris  the  signatory  powers  declared  privateering  abolished. 
This  declaration  has  been  acceded  to  by  all  maritime  powers 
except  the  United  States.  Spain  and  Mexico.  So  in  case  of  a 
Ijrush  with  the  Spaniards  privateering  will  probably  be  recog- 
nized by  both  governments. 

The  United  States  have  taken  a  somewhat  varying  position 
toward  privateering.  After  the  Revolutionary  War  treaties 
were  made  providing  for  its  abolition.  During  the  War  of 
1812  privateering  was  extensively  practiced,  but  during  the 
Mexican  War  it  was  not  indulged  in  by  either  side.  In  1856. 
when  it  was  proposed  to  the  United  States  to  accede  to  the 
Declaration  of  Paris,  the  government  declined  unless  private 
property  at  sea  was  exempted  from  capture. 

In  186.^.  during  the  Civil  War.  a  law  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress providing  for  the  issuing  of  letters  of  marque  and  re- 
prisal by  the  President,  but  the  law  was  never  put  into  execu- 
tion. The  United  States  still  maintains  the  right  to  issue 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  to  the  fullest  extent,  and  it  is 
only  a  question  of  policy  wliicli  would  prevent  its  exercise  in 
any  war  which  might  come  along. 


TORPEUOES-    USE    IN    WAR.  57 


CHAPTER    IV. 

TORPEDOES'    ISE    IN    WAR. 

DELICATE  INSTRUMENTS  THAT  CARRY  CERT.\IN  DESTRUCTION 
TO  THE  MOST  POWERFUL  SHIPS— WONDERFUL  INGENUITY 
IN  PERFECTING  DETAILS— THE  CRUDE  INSTRUMENTS  FIRST 
MADE— THEIR  GRADUAL  IMPROVEMENT.  UNTIL  NOW  THEY 
ARE  THE  MOST  DREADED  IMPLEMENTS  OF  WAR  ON  THE 
WATER— DEVICES  FOR  REGULATING  SPEED,  RADIUS  OF 
ACTION.  IMMERSION  AND  ALMOST  ABSOLUTE  CERTAINTY  OF 
KEEPING    A    STRAIGHT    COURSE. 

Torpedo  warfare  began  during  the  American  civil  war.  but 
so  crude  were  the  early  torpedoes  and  so  little  opportunity 
has  there  since  been  to  study  the  action  of  modern  torpedoes 
in  actual  war  that  naval  officers  all  over  Europe  have  looked 
forward  eagerly  to  a  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain 
as  an  object-lesson.  That  the  torpedo  years  ago  passed  the 
e.xperimental  stage  and  stands  today  as  the  most  wonderful 
and  terrible  of  modern  engines  of  war  is  not  to  be  doubted, 
but  it  has  had  no  real  test  of  its  power.  Not  one  torpedo  has 
been  fired  in  warfare  by  any  of  the  leading  naval  powers  in 
more  than  twenty  years,  and  so  great  has  been  the  advance 
in  torpedo  construction  within  this  time  that  the  early  tests 
are  of  little  value  to  the  present  student  of  naval  affairs. 

Since  the  torpedo  became  a  machine  of  precision  it  has  been 
used  in  warfare  only  by  insurrectionists  and  weak  nations. 
The  war  between  China  and  Japan  three  years  ago  gave  some 
idea  of  the  value  of  the  torpedo,  but  neither  its  full  value  nor 
its  place  could  be  determined  in  that  short  and  unequal  con- 
test between  two  half-civilized  nations. 

Thirty-seven  torpedo  attacks  have  been  made  thus  far.  sink- 
ing a  dozen  ships  and  damaging  one  other.  Six  assailant 
boats  have  been  lost. 


58  TORPEDOES'    USE    IN    WAR. 

The  Whitehead  torpedo  record  only  is  interesting,  for  it  is 
the  only  automobile  torpedo  which  has  ever  been  used  in  war 
and  is  practically  the  only  torpedo  in  use  today.  The  United 
States  was  the  last  leading  nation  to  adopt  the  Whitehead,  the 
Navy  Department  delaying  action  with  the  hope  that  an 
American  engineer  would  produce  the  Whitehead's  equal, 
until  a  half-dozen  years  ago  the  navy's  imperative  need  of 
torpedoes  forced  the  adoption  of  the  Whitehead. 

TORPEDO    ATTACKS    THUS    FAR. 

Here  is  a  summary  of  attacks  with  Whitehead  torpedoes: 

Yio,  Peru,  May  29,  1877. — English  launch  Shah  fired  one 
torpedo  at  Peruvian  ship  Huascar,  in  motion  at  sea,  day: 
missed. 

Batum,  Russia,  December  27,  1877. — Two  Russian  launches 
fired  two  torpedoes  at  Turkish  ship  Mahmudieh,  at  anchor, 
night;  both  probably  struck  booms. 

Batum,  Russia,  January  25,  1878. — Two  Russion  launches 
fired  two  torpedoes,  100  yards  range,  at  Turkish  ship,  at 
anchor,  foggy  night;  ship  sunk. 

Valparaiso,  Chili,  January  27,  1891. — Launch  of  Congres- 
sionalists'  ship  Blanco  Encalada,  fired  one  torpedo  at  Balnia- 
cedists'  ship  Imperial,  at  anchor;  missed. 

Caldera  Bay,  Chili,  April  23,  1891.— Balmacedists'  torpedo 
gunboats  Lynch  and  Cordell  fired  five  torpedoes,  100  to  twenty 
yards  range,  at  Congressionalist  ship  Blanco  Encalada,  at 
anchor,  cloudy  morning,  before  dawn;  ship  sunk;  Lynch  hit 
four  times,  but  not  damaged. 

Santa  Catherina,  Brazil,  April  15,  189,3.— Peixotoists'  tor- 
pedo gunboat  Sampaio  and  three  torpedo-boats  fired  four  tor- 
pedoes, 160  yards  range,  at  Melloists'  ship  Aquidaban,  at 
anchor,  night;  Aquidaban  sunk,  Sampaio  hit  twenty-five  times 
without  being  damaged. 

Ofif  the  Yalu,  September  17,  1894. — Chinese  torpedo-boat 
fired  two  torpedoes  at  Japanese  ship  Hiyel,  in  motion,  during 
battle,  day;  no  result.  Chinese  torpedo-boat  fired  three  tor- 
pedoes, fifty  yards  range,  at  Japanese  ship  Saikio;  no  result. 


TORPEDOES-    USE    IN    WAR.  59 

Wei-Hai-Wei,  February  2,  1895. — Japanese  torpedo-boats 
attacked  Chinese  fleet,  at  anchor,  night;  assailants  fired  upon, 
attack  abandoned.  February  5,  1895.— Ten  Japanese  torpedo- 
boats  fired  ten  torpedoes,  330  yards  range,  at  Chinese  ships 
Ting  Yuen  and  Lai  Yuen,  at  anchor,  dark  night;  Ting  Yuen 
sunk;  one  torpedo-boat  sunk  and  twelve  men  lost,  another 
boat  ran  ashore,  only  one  uninjured.  February  6,  1895. — Six 
Japanese  torpedo-boats  attacked  Chinese  ships  Lai  Yuen,  Wei 
Yuen  and  Ching  Yuen,  at  anchor,  dark  night;  Lai  Yuen 
capsized. 

The  new  American  Whiteheads,  officially  known  as  "W.  T., 
5  metre.  45  centimetre,  mark  L  U.  S.  N.,  now  building  for 
the  government  in  Brooklyn,  are  distinctively  American  tor- 
pedoes, although  made  under  licenses  from  the  original  White- 
head Company  at  Flume,  Hungary,  the  birthplace  of  the 
Whitehead.  At  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  American 
civil  war  Captain  Lupuis,  an  Austrian  naval  officer,  submitted 
to  his  government  the  first  automobile  torpedo.  It  was  run 
by  clockwork  and  guided  from  shore  by  ropes.  The  govern- 
ment liked  the  idea,  but  recommended  the  selection  of  a  better 
motive  power  and  a  simpler  means  of  guiding.  Three  years 
later  Lupuis  met  Whitehead,  then  manager  of  an  engine-man- 
ufacturing company  at  Flume,  and  exhibited  his  torpedo 
plans.  Whitehead  secretly  made  the  first  Whitehead  torpedo, 
and  two  years  later  submitted  it  to  the  Austrian  government. 
Externally  it  had  the  appearance  of  a  modern  torpedo;  its 
weight  was  300  pounds,  and  it  carried  a  charge  of  eighteen 
pounds  of  dynamite.  A  compressed-air  chamber,  charged  to 
a  pressure  of  700  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  supplied  the 
motive  power.  For  short  distances  the  torpedo  attained  a 
speed  of  six  knots. 

THE    GENERAL    ARR.XNGEMENT. 

The  new  American  Whitehead  not  only  has  the  power  to 
blow  up  any  ship  afloat,  but  its  intricate  and  delicate  mechan- 
ism makes  certain  its  path  under  the  water.  The  variations 
from  its  course  are  so  slight  that  it  can  be  fired  from  the 


(JO  TORPEDOEH'    VISE    l.\     WAU. 

launching  tube  with  the  same  confidence  in  its  ability  to  reach 
the  target  as  when  the  seacoast  artilleryman  fires  a  steel  shell 
from  a  heavy  gun.  The  torpedo  is  built  of  steel  in  the  shape 
of  a  porpoise,  with  a  big  double-bladed  tail.  Ready  for  firing 
it  weighs  i  i6o  pounds,  but  it.-,  weight  in  water  is  but  a  half 
pound.  Its  length  is  five  metres  (about  sixteen  feet  five 
inches),  its  greatest  diameter  forty-five  centimetres  (17.7 
inches).  It  is  assembled  in  four  sections — the  head,  air  flask 
and  immersion  chamber,  after  body,  and  tail — all  fitted  to- 
gether with  sleeve  joints  and  held  together  by  joint  screws. 
The  walls  are  made  of  the  finest  forged  steel,  to  resist  the 
enormous  air  pressure.  Bronze  bulkheads  separate  the  sec- 
tions. Near  the  after  end  of  the  air  flask  is  a  bulkhead  of  the 
small  immersion  chamber.  The  after  body  is  also  divided  into 
two  compartments,  so  that  in  all  there  are  five  compartments 
within  the  torpedo's  steel  shell. 

Compressed  air  is  the  motive  power.  This  is  contained 
within  the  air  flask,  a  hollow  forged  steel  cylinder  nearly  half 
as  long  as  the  torpedo,  slightly  tapering  at  the  ends,  with 
dome-shaped  heads  screwed  and  soldered  in  each  end.  On 
shipboard  this  flask  is  filled  by  an  air-compressing  engine, 
and  the  j)ressure  attained  is  1350  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
The  flask  is  tested  for  a  pressure  of  2000  pounds. 

The  engine  consists  of  three  cylinders  radiating  out  from 
the  propeller  shaft,  like  a  three-leaf  clover.  The  cylinders 
could  be  carried  in  one's  overcoat  pocket,  but  they  have  a 
combined  power  of  thirty  horse-power. 

TTOW    TTTK    CTTN    COTTON    IS    F.XPT.nDF.D. 

Wet  gun  cotton,  weighing  220  pounds,  is  carried  in  the  tor- 
pedo's blunt  phosphor-bronze  war  head,  double  the  amount 
carried  in  the  smaller  torpedo  first  issued  to  the  navy.     The 
gun  cotton  is  in  disks.     Into  the  nose  of  the  torpedo  is  in- 
serted a  metal  cylinder,  reaching  back  some  distance  througli 
openings  in  the  gun-cotton  disks.     This  cylinder,  the  primer, 
holds  a  series  of  small  dry  gun-cotton  cylinders.      The   for- 
ward cylinder  is  pierced  to  receive  the  detonating  primer  of 


o 
n 
a. 


TORPEDOES-    USE    IN    WAIi.  63 

fulminate  of  mercury,  capped  with  a  percussion  cap.  The 
war  nose  screws  into  the  forward  end  of  the  primer  case. 
When  the  torpedo  is  launched  a  blow  on  the  war  nose  will 
not  explode  the  gun  cotton,  but  as  the  torpedo  runs  through 
the  water  a  little  fan  on  the  nose  is  revolved  like  a  paper- 
spinning  wheel.  A  nut  is  screwed  through  a  traveling  sleeve 
by  the  turning  of  the  fan  until  it  rests  on  the  firing  pin. 

When  the  torpedo  strikes  the  firing  pin  is  driven  in,  de- 
tonating the  cap,  the  fulminate  of  mercury,  the  dry  gun  cotton 
and  then  exploding  the  220  pounds  of  wet  gun  cotton.  This 
system  of  explosions  is  made  necessary  by  the  nature  of  gun 
cotton.  Tliis  high  explosive,  one  of  the  most  powerful  de- 
stroyers ever  evolved  from  the  chemists'  laboratory,  is  ex- 
ploded with  difificulty.  Were  the  war  head  simply  loaded 
with  wet  gun  cotton,  the  impact  of  the  head  against  the  ship's 
armor  would  not  explode  the  gun  cotton.  Even  dry  gun  cot- 
ton might  not  explode.  Gun  cotton  on  shipboard  is  always 
kept  wet.  It  is  more  difficult  to  explode,  but  more  violent 
in  its  action.  Dry  gun  cotton  is  about  the  only  thing  that  is 
sure  to  explode  wet  gun  cotton,  and  dry  gun  cotton  is  ex- 
ploded by  a  mercury  fulminate  detonator.  The  latter  is 
easily  exploded  by  a  cap  and  instantaneously  expands  to  2500 
times  its  original  volume.  The  sudden  pressure  explodes  the 
dry  gun  cotton.  The  war  head  is  never  used  in  times  of  peace. 
Instead  a  blunter  practice  head  of  steel  is  used.  It  is  ballasted 
by  filling  it  with  fresh  water. 

No  government  would  now  spend  a  cent  for  a  torpedo 
which  could  not  be  depended  on  to  reach  the  point  aimed  at. 
The  maximum  effectiveness  of  a  torpedo  in  an  attack  on  a 
battleship  is  reached  when  the  torpedo  strikes  the  vessel  amid- 
ships, well  below  the  heavy  side  armor  belt.  The  explosion 
drives  in  the  armor  at  its  weakest  point,  explodes  the  boilers 
and  nearby  magazines  and  insures  the  sinking  of  the  ship. 
Struck  near  the  water  line,  a  heavy  battleship  (while  the  havoc 
wrought  would  be  terrific)  might  be  able  to  keep  above  water 
for  hours  and  do  effective  service  in  an  engagement.  The 
Ting  Yuen,  one  of  the  battleships  of  the  Chinese  fleet  at 
Wei-Hai-Wei,   at  early  dawn   on    February  5,    1895,   was  at- 


64  TORPEDOES-    USE    IN    WAR. 

tacked  by  the  Japanese  torpedo  Hotilla.  One  of  the  six 
Whitehead  torpedoes  fired  at  the  Ting  Yuen  and  Lai  Yuen 
struck  the  former  in  the  stern  near  the  water  line.  The  tor- 
pedo tore  a  big  hole  in  the  armor,  and,  although  the  water- 
tight doors  and  compartments  failed  at  the  critical  moment, 
the  ship  sank  very  slowly,  and  her  gunners  sank  the  assailant, 
killing  all  of  her  crew. 

KEPT    .\T    A    FIXED    DEPTH. 

Remarkable  alike  for  the  completeness  of  its  control  of  the 
movement  of  the  torpedo  and  the  simplicity  of  its  action  in 
the  mechanism  which  keeps  the  torpedo  at  any  fixed  depth. 
In  each  of  the  horizontal  fins  of  the  torpedo's  tail  is  a  rec- 
tangular rudder,  about  two  inches  wide  and  three  inches  long, 
in  its  normal  position  flush  with  the  fin.  Obviously,  if  these 
little  rudders  swing  up,  the  torpedo  will  be  deflected  upward 
and  vice  versa,  their  action  being  the  same  as  that  of  the  hori- 
zontal fins  on  a  fish. 

So  simple  is  the  horizontal  rudder  mechanism,  it  is  strange 
that  its  construction  was  so  long  a  secret.  It  can  be  best 
understood  by  reference  to  the  accompanying  diagram,  in 
which  the  underlying  principle  of  the  action  of  the  mechanism 
is  shown  in  a  conventional  way.  no  attention  being  paid  to 
dimensions  or  detail  parts.  Abaft  the  immersion  chamber  is 
a  small  compartment  of  the  after  body  of  the  torpedo,  around 
the  exterior  wall  of  which  are  a  number  of  large  holes,  freely 
admitting  water  to  the  chamber  when  the  torpedo  is  launched. 
The  pressure  of  water  varying  with  the  depth,  as  the  torpedo 
sinks,  the  diaphragm  (D)  is  pressed  inward,  forcing  the  piston 
(A)  forward  and  swinging  the  armed  section  (Y)  about  on  its 
fixed  pivot  to  the  position  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines.  The 
long  arm  (M)  carries  forward  the  rod  (K),  swinging  the  pen- 
dulum fP)  forward  and  pulling  about  on  its  fixed  pivot  the 
sector  CZ).  which  carries  the  horizontal  rudder  (R).  The 
raised  rudder  points  the  torpedo  upward,  and  as  it  ascends 
the  pressure  of  the  water  on  the  diaphragm  growing  less,  the 
piston  gradually  resumes  its  normal  position,  pulling  down 


TORPEDOES-    [/>.'/•;    ly    WAR.  65 

the  rudder  to  a  horizontal  position.  The  torpedo  takes  a 
more  and  more  direct  course  until  it  is  running  straight  ahead. 
In  a  torpedo  attack  upon  an  armored  vessel  the  officer  who 
directs  the  attack  determines  at  what  distance  below  the  water 
line  of  the  vessel  a  torpedo  will  do  the  most  damage.  Battle- 
ships of  heavy  draught  are  attacked  at  a  point  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  below  the  surface,  while  light-draught  cruisers  and 
monitors  are  attacked  higher  up.  One  of  the  parts  of  the 
immersion  chamber  of  the  new  Whitehead  is  the  depth  inde.x, 
by  means  of  which  the  depth  at  which  the  torpedo  runs  is 
fixed  by  the  turn  of  a  wrench.  So  finely  is  the  torpedo  made, 
its  weight  in  water  varying  but  a  few  grains  from  a  half-pound. 
that  its  immersion  is  a  simple  matter. 

When  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  torpedo  learns  the  depth 
at  which  it  is  to  run  he  has  one  of  the  men  of  the  squad  turn 
the  spindle  until  tlie  vertical  wheel  shows  the  distance.  This 
so  fixes  the  piston  spring  that  the  piston  is  pushed  outward 
and  the  horizontal  rudders  consequently  held  down  until  the 
torpedo  reaches  the  determined  depth,  then  the  pressure  of 
the  spring  on  one  end  of  the  piston  is  equal  to  the  pressure 
of  the  water  on  the  other  end. 

Torpedoes  are  now  fired  from  American  ships  without  the 
long  series  of  commands  recently  in  use.  The  men  of  the 
torpedo  crews  are  schooled  in  their  individual  duties,  so  that 
few  commands  are  needed.  Before  the  torpedo  is  entered  into 
the  breech  for  a  practice  run.  the  distance  gear  must  be  set  to 
fix  the  point  at  which  the  torpedoes'  engines  will  stop,  the 
speed  regulator  must  be  set.  tlic  locking  dial  must  be  set  to 
fix  the  distance  from  the  ship  when  the  engines  will  start,  the 
rudder  index  must  be  set  to  fix  the  depth  of  the  initial  dive 
and  the  depth  index  must  be  set  to  fix  the  depth  at  which  the 
torpedo  will  run.  In  an  attack  only  the  last  of  these  opera- 
tions might  be  necessary.  In  practice  the  air  flask  is  generally 
connected  with  the  air  compressor  just  before  launching,  for 
the  most  finely  made  torpedoes  cannot  be  made  airtight 
against  the  pressure  of  1350  pounds  to  the  square  inch.  When 
all  the  adjustments  are  made  the  breech  door  is  closed  and  a 
cartridge  carrying  a  few  ounces  of  powder  placed  in  the  firing 


66  TORPEDOEi^'    ViiE    IN    WAR. 

pistol  on  top  of  the  breech.  The  pistol  is  fired  by  electricity 
either  from  the  torpedo-room  or  the  conning  tower.  The 
slight  shock  is  enough  to  drive  the  torpedo  out  into  the  water, 
the  starting  lever  being  tripped  back  by  the  tube  projection. 
When  the  torpedo  strikes  the  water  the  water  tripper  is  thrown 
back  and  the  engines  are  started  at  full  speed.  By  the  aid  of 
the  torpedo  indicator  an  arrangement  of  three  triangulated 
arms  on  a  semi-circular  arc,  the  torpedo  is  aimed  with  due 
allowance  for  the  speed  of  the  ship,  the  speed  of  the  enemy. 
the  speed  of  the  torpedo  and  the  training  of  the  torpedo  tube. 


THE    MAN    IX    fHE    MILITARY    MA8T.  6S 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    MAN    IN   THE    MILITARY    MAST. 

WHERE  GRIM  DEATH  LURKS  IN  BATTLE— THE  MILITARY  MAST, 
THE  MOST  EXPOSED  POINT  ON  A  BATTLESHIP.  WHERE  THE 
CHANCES    ARE    ALL    FOR    DEATH. 

The  heroes  of  the  coming  war  will  be  the  men  detailed  to 
duty  in  the  military  masts,  or  fighting  tops,  of  our  big  battle- 
ships. The  topman's  position  will  be  one  of  unspeakable 
peril.  When  he  goes  up  into  one  of  those  dread  places  he 
must  realize  that  his  chances  of  coming  down  alive  are  very 
slight.  Exposed  to  the  full  fury  of  the  enemy's  fire,  with 
scarcely  any*protection.  and  with  the  possibility  of  having 
the  entire  mast  shot  away,  his  is  a  position  perhaps  the  most 
dangerous  in  all  modern  naval  warfare. 

The  steel  barbettes  of  the  present  time,  save  in  certain  bat- 
tleships, where  an  overhead  shield  is  carried,  give  a  protection 
more  apparent  than  real,  more  picturesque  than  practical. 
And  while  the  military  top  crews  have  the  advantage  of  seeing 
something  of  the  scrimmage,  yet  they  present  too  inviting  a 
mark  to  the  enemy,  and  have  stations  which  in  battle  are 
pretty  sure  to  be  untenable  from  the  heat  and  smoke. 

The  small  arms  men  have  frequent  practice  aboard  ship, 
and,  considering  the  difficulties  of  the  environment,  are  good 
marksmen.  It  is  no  easy  task  to  fire  from  a  platform  placed 
at  the  fob  end  of  a  pendulum,  swinging  irregularly,  and  the 
results  attained  testify  to  the  value  of  the  drill  and  to  the 
physique   of  the   individual. 

WHERE    GRIM    DE.\TH     LURKS. 

On  the  larger  battleships  the  military  masts  are  hollow,  and 
access  to  the  fighting  tops   is   gained  through  the   interior. 


70  THE    MAN    l.\     THE    MILITARY    MAST. 

The  ammunition  is  also  passed  up  inside.  In  the  smoke  and 
grime  of  battle  one  can  well  realize  what  a  hell  these  places 
would  be. 

Another  thing  that  must  be  considered  is  the  fact  that  this 
will  be  the  United  States  Navy's  first  practical  test  of  the 
modern  warship.  The  last  ten  years  have  brouglit  about  a 
greater  and  more  sudden  change  in  the  outward  appearance 
of  men-of-war  than  has  ever  been  recorded  in  the  history  of 
naval  affairs.  This  is  in  the  main  due  to  the  almost  complete 
banishment  of  sails,  yards  and  the  more  or  less  intricate  rig- 
ging necessitated  by  their  use,  in  favor  of  military  masts,  or, 
in  some  cases,  mere  signal  poles. 

The  rig  of  the  ironclad  battleship  of  ten  years  ago  differed 
in  no  very  essential  particular  from  that  of  the  ships  of  long 
ago;  but  now,  in  a  single  decade,  all  is  changed.  Before  the 
change  some  progress  had  been  made  in  utilizing  the  ordinary 
tops  in  action  by  placing  riflemen  or  machine  guns  in  them, 
in  order  to  direct  a  plunging  fire  on  the  enemy's  deck.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  it  was  a  shot  fired  from  the  mizzentop  of 
the  Redoubtable  that  laid  Nelson  low  in  the  moment  of 
victory. 

THE    ANCIENTS    USED    THEM. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  military  tops,  although  greatly  improved 
as  now  constructed  on  our  battleships,  are  by  no  means  new 
in  naval  warfare.  They  are  represented  in  the  drawings  and 
carvings  of  Egyptian  and  .Asiatic  warships  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years  before  Christ.  In  mediaeval  days  the  fighting  top 
was  a  recognized  part  of  a  ship  of  war.  Archers  and  slingcrs 
poured  their  missiles  down  from  them  on  the  decks  of  their 
enemies,  or  stones,  (luicklime  and  Greek  fire  were  InirUd 
upon  the  heads  of  the  opposing  crews.  In  the  earlier  days 
the  top  was  at  the  extreme  summit  of  the  mast,  but  as  ships 
got  bigger  and  masts  loftier  it  was  placed  lower  down. 

The  next  step  was  also  rendered  necessary  by  the  growth 
of  masts  and  spars,  for  when  heavily-rigged  ships,  such  as  the 
Great  Harry,  and  the  ships  which  took   part   in  the  .\rmada 


THE    MAN    IN    THE    MILITARY    MAST.  71 

fight,  came  to  be  built,  it  was  necessary  to  enlarge  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  top  to  give  a  support  to  the  shrouds  which 
upheld  the  topmast.  From  this  period  the  top  as  a  fighting 
platform  disappeared  till  recently,  except  in  the  war  galleys 
of  the  Mediterranean  and  Baltic,  which  had  a  curious  basket 
top  at  their  mastheads,  known  as  a  "gable." 

The  military  mast  of  today  is  constructed  primarily  to  carry 
guns,  and  secondarily  for  signalling  purposes,  for  it  must  be 
remembered  that  in  all  cases  in  which  ships  have  been 
equipped  with  fighting  tops  since  their  very  first  inception, 
the  primary  duty  of  the  mast  which  upheld  it  was  to  carry 
sail  for  the  propulsion  of  the  ship. 

Some  of  the  masts  are  supplied  with  an  upper  top  for  the 
electric  light,  a  peculiarly-shaped  edifice  below  to  enable  three 
quick-firing  guns  to  be  discharged  right  ahead,  and  a  species 
of  conning  tower  below,  from  which  the  captain  can  overlook 
the  smoke  clouds  and  so  see  to  direct  his  ship  in  action.  The 
later  types  are  all  constructed  with  much  the  same  ideas. 

Some  have  a  lookout,  or  conning  tower,  others  have  not, 
but  all  have  three  or  six-pounder  quick-firing  guns  and  elec- 
tric-light projectors,  and  one  or  two  lighter  machine  guns  in 
addition. 

The  small  calibre  rapid-fire  and  machine  guns  employed  in 
tops  are  supported  by  riflemen,  and  in  every  fight  their  work 
of  clearing  the  guns,  sweeping  the  decks  and  superstructures, 
and  of  picking  off  the  officers  and  leading  men  is,  to  say  the 
least,  hazardous.  In  the  galley  days  the  military  tops  were 
fairly  well  protected,  but  during  the  sail  era  the  topmen  hand- 
ling the  swivel  pieces  and  deck-rakers,  and  forming  a  special 
corps  of  musketeers,  had  no  protection,  except  what  was 
given  by  a  network  of  mattress-filled  hammocks. 

TARGETS  FOR  SHOT  AND  SHELL. 

It  would  take  a  big  projectile  to  bring  a  mast  down,  but 
then,  if  it  did,  great  would  be  the  fall  thereof.  And  think  of 
the  poor  devils  that  would  come  crashing  down  with  it!  And 
think  of  them  even  if  the  mast  doesn't  come  down,  perched 


72  THE    MAN    IN    THE    MILITARY    MAST. 

up  there,  living  targets  for  shot  and  shell!  The  thin  plating 
is  of  no  avail  against  anythhig  larger  than  a  ritle  bullet,  and 
a  small  shell  might  pass  harmlessly  over  the  heads  of  the  men 
in  an  open  top  which  in  a  closed  one  would  have  been  burst 
Ijy  the  iron  sides,  and  scatter  death  and  destruction  within. 

A  curious  umbrella-like  structure  is  the  production  of  the 
brain  of  that  versatile  genius,  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  and 
was  intended  to  be  placed  on  board  the  ship  which  was  to  be 
built  to  replace  the  old  Preussen.  Although  offering  the 
greatest  possible  protection,  it  was  found  to  be  impracticable. 

The  only  practical  test  of  the  modern  battleship  was  the 
l)rush  between  China  and  Japan,  and  it  was  my  good  fortune 
the  other  day  to  have  a  talk  with  a  sailor  who  had  been  in 
that  fight. 

In  the  depths  of  the  ship  men  were  stripped  to  their  waists, 
throwing  coal  into  the  huge  furnaces;  in  the  turrets  the  gun- 
ners stood  to  their  guns:  in  the  after  cabin  and  in  the  cockpit 
the  sailors  paced  back  and  forth  awaiting  orders  for  action, 
not  uttering  a  word,  with  every  muscle  and  every  nerve  at 
extreme  tension.  The  firemen,  water-tenders  and  coal-heavers 
were  shut  up  in  the  fire  rooms  out  of  danger  from  shot  or 
shell,  but  certain  of  a  terrible  death  should  the  vessel  be  sunk 
or  a  magazine  explode.  On  the  platforms,  at  the  reversing 
gear,  at  every  valve  and  throttle  were  stationed  men  to  make 
response  to  every  command.  Oilers  moved  about  filling  the 
cups:  cadets  were  at  the  ^■oice  tulies  and  annunciators:  in  the 
magazines  and  shell  rooms  far  below  the  water  line,  on  the 
lower  flats  and  at  successive  stations  men  stood  to  guide  the 
__shells  and  cylinders  of  powder. 

The  crews  of  the  eight  and  twelve-inch  guns  in  the  turrets 
had  cutlasses  and  revolvers  strapped  about  them,  while  at  the 
lighter  guns  stood  sailors  in  small  .groups.  .\1I  men  not 
needed  were  directed  to  remain  in  the  shelter  of  tlie  l)arbettes 
and  turrets.  OfKicers  of  divisions  walked  to  and  fro  or  leaned 
upon  their  swords  with  frequent  glances  ahead.  The  Captain 
was  on  the  bridge,  the  navi.gator  in  the  tower,  the  quarter- 
master at  the  wheel  and  petty  officers  at  the  engine  signals. 
On  one  of  the  flats  below  the  i)rotective  deck   was   the  sur- 


4 


I 


I 


THE    MAN    IN    THE    MILITARY    MAST.  75 

geons'  table,  with  a  long  row  of  glistening  steel  instruments, 
rows  of  bandages  and  buckets  of  water. 

It  soon  became  known,  even  among  the  sailors,  that  orders 
had  been  given  to  fire  from  the  lighter  guns  when  the  enemy 
was  4000  yards  away,  and  to  fire  the  main  battery  at  a  distance 
of  2500  yards.  This  was  to  give  time  during  the  advance  for 
from  fifteen  to  forty  shots  from  each  light  gun  and  two  from 
the  large  guns  in  time  to  train  abeam  for  the  passing  broad- 
side. 

THE   FIGHTING    BEGINS. 

The  Japanese  boat  could  now  be  plainy  seen,  and  the  orders 
came  to  fire.  The  boom  of  the  guns,  the  smoke  of  the  pow- 
der, changed  everything  on  board  ship.  There  was  now  no 
expectancy,  no  suspense.  The  men  in  the  turrets  and  the 
men  at  the  lighter  guns  were  blackened  with  the  powder,  and 
the  smell  of  powder  was  all  over  the  ship. 

The  sailors  -forgot  all  fear.  Amid  the  smoke  and  the  dust 
they  became  as  enraged  animals.  No  thought  of  danger 
entered  their  minds;  no  realization  of  peril  was  upon  them. 
They  talked,  they  laughed,  they  yelled  as  if  in  glee.  The  bat- 
tle had  commenced.  The  Japanese  vessel,  uninjured  by  the 
fire  from  the  lighter  guns,  bore  steadily  down  upon  the  Chi- 
nese ship.  Four  other  Japanese  vessels  were  reported,  and 
it  was  evident  that  the  Chinese  ship,  while  very  much  larger 
than  any  of  her  antagonists,  was  engaging  in  a  desperate 
fight. 

When  the  Japanese  man-of-war  was  2500  yards  distant  the 
eight  and  twelve-inch  guns  sent  forth  their  deadly  missiles. 
The  Japanese  boat  returned  the  fire,  and  the  sailors  watched 
the  shells  as  they  mounted  the  height  of  their  trajectories  and 
fell  toward  the  mark.  As  calmly  they  watched  the  shells,  as 
though  they  were  not  freighted  with  certain  death  and  de- 
struction. It  was  evident  that  one,  at  least,  had  been  fired 
true  and  would  fall  upon  the  Chinese  vessel.  It  struck  the 
forward  turret  and  crashed  through,  silencing  two  guns  and 
forever  silencing  the  voices  of  twenty  gunners. 


(<• 


THE    MAN    IN    THE    MILITARY    MAST. 


The  lighter  guns  kept  up  the  fight,  which  waxed  hot  and 
furious  as  the  two  ships  approached  each  other.  Soon  they 
were  at  broadsides,  and  the  guns  of  each  vessel  swept  the 
decks  of  the  other.  One  after  another  the  gunners  fell,  and 
the  reserves  were  called  out  to  take  their  places.  The  decks 
were  so  slippery  from  the  blood  of  the  wounded  men  that  it 
was  almost  impossible  for  the  sailors  who  were  as  yet  unin- 
jured to  take  the  positions  they  were  ordered  to  fill. 


L\    A    TORPEDO-BOAT.  77 


CHAPTER    VI. 
IN   A  TORPEDO-BOAT. 

ITS  CREW  CARRY  THEIR  LIVES  I.\  THEIR  HANDS — AN  OBSTRUC- 
TION MAY  WRECK  IT,  A  SINGLE  SHOT  SEND  IT  TO  THE  BOT- 
TOM .\ND  THERE  IS  CONSTANT  DANGER  OF  THE  PREMATURE 
EXPLOSION  OP  ITS  DEADLY  FREIGHT  OR  ACCIDENT  TO  ITS 
MACHINERY — DISCOMFORTS    THAT    BECOME    UNBEARABLE. 

The  swift-going  torpedo-boats,  now  so  much  sought  after 
h}-  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  for  use  against  Spain,  are 
without  doubt  tlie  most  uncomfortable  and  dangerous  craft 
afloat.  Every  man  who  goes  aboard  one  of  them  takes  his 
Hfe  in  his  own  hands.  There  is  danger  on  the  outside  and 
danger  on  the  inside,  danger  above  and  danger  below,  to  say 
nothing  of  discomfort  which  often  amounts  to  actual  suffer- 
ing. The  interior  of  these  boats  is  almost  as  hot  as  hades  is 
credited  with  being,  and  at  any  moment  one  of  the  over- 
charged boilers  or  steam  pipes  may  burst  and  scald  everybody 
inside  the  boat  to  death. 

ONE    SHOT    WOULD    SINK    IT. 

A  single  shot  from  an  enemy's  gun  would  sink  any  one  of 
them,  and  it  need  not  be  a  very  large  gun,  either.  The  intense 
heat  inside  the  boat  renders  the  torpedoes  and  high  explo- 
sives likely  to  explode  prematurely,  and  the  shock  of  a  col- 
lision is  also  likely  to  set  them  oiT  and  blow  the  boat  and 
everyone  aboard  her  into  minute  fragments.  Cold  provis- 
ions have  to  be  used,  for  the  reason  that  there  is  neither  time 
nor  appliances  for  cooking,  and  not  even  the  comfort  of 
standing  erect  can  be  enjoyed.  The  breaking  of  the  propeller 
or  crankshaft  is  likely  to  wreck  the  engines,  kill  everyone  in 


78  IN    A    TORPEDO-BOAT. 

the  engine-room  and  render  the  helpless  boat  an  easy  mark 
for  an  enemy's  shot. 

DELICATELY    CONSTRUCTED. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  whose  acquaintance  with  torpedo- 
boats  is  decidedly  limited— and  there  are  thousands  of  them — 
it  may  be  said  a  torpedo-boat  is  a  long,  narrow,  low  steamer, 
in  the  designing  of  which  everything  is  sacrificed  to  speed. 
Personal  comfort  and  the  safety  of  the  crew  are  lost  sight  of. 
The  interior  is  divided  up  into  compartments  by  water-tight 
bulkheads.  First  comes  the  collision  bulkhead,  which  is 
about  eight  feet  abaft  the  stem.  In  this  forward  compart- 
ment there  is  nothing,  as  it  is  likely  at  any  time  to  fill  with 
water  should  the  boat  strike  an  obstruction.  So  thin  and 
delicate  are  these  boats  that  even  if  one  collided  with  a 
broken  spar  its  bows  would  be  stove  in. 

THE    TORPEDO-ROOM. 

Back  of  this  collision  bulkhead  is  the  torpedo-room,  in 
which  the  dangerous  explosives  are  stored.  Next  comes  the 
crew's  quarters— a  little  pen  of  a  place  where  the  men  are 
packed  like  sardines  in  a  box.  Then  comes  the  boilers  and 
engines,  and  abaft  of  them  the  officers'  quarters,  which  are 
often  so  confined  that  they  have  to  be  constantly  ducking 
their  heads  as  they  move  about.  The  engineers  occupy  the 
quarters  with  the  officers.  When  the  boat  is  going  at  full 
speed  she  is  trembling,  twisting,  rolling,  pitching  and  shaking 
up  everybody  aboard  her  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  often 
difificult  for  the  officers  and  men  to  talk. 

BAD    SEA    BOATS. 

The  jarring  of  a  railroad  train  is  nothing  compared  with 
this  vibration.  It  will  shake  the  last  drop  out  of  a  tumbler  of 
water  on  the  little  cabin  table,  even  in  smooth  water.  Mat- 
ters go  from  bad  to  worse  when  the  boat  is  at  sea  in  rough 


n 

o 


oc 

O 


IN    A    TORPEDO-BOAT.  81 

water.  Torpedo-boats  are  notoriously  bad  sea  boats,  and  it 
is  at  sea  that  the  full  discomfort  is  realized.  The  hatches  must 
be  battened  down  to  keep  out  the  tons  of  water  which  are 
constantly  rolling  over  the  vessel's  decks,  and  the  heat,  to- 
gether with  the  smell  of  heated  oil,  the  sufifocating  effect  of 
steam  and  the  closeness  of  the  confinement,  become  almost 
unbearable.  Often  for  days  the  luckless  crew  do  not  get  an 
hour's  sleep  at  any  one  time,  and  have  to  subsist  on  whatever 
kind  of  cold  stores  they  can  readily  grab  and  eat  as  they  hold 
on  to  prevent  themselves  being  hurled  about  by  the  violent 
pitching  and  rolling  of  the  vessel. 

NO   MEANS  OF  DEFENCE. 

The  average  torpedo-boat  can  carry  about  twenty-five  tons 
of  coal,  four  torpedoes  and  twenty  men.  They  are  intended 
to  sneak  up  close  to  an  enemy's  warship,  discharge  a  torpedo 
the  moment  they  get  within  range  and  then  beat  a  rapid 
retreat.  They  must  be  fast  enough  to  get  out  of  the  range 
of  the  enemy's  guns  before  they  are  discovered,  or  a  single 
shot  will  send  one  to  the  bottom  with  all  on  board.  They 
have  no  means  of  defence,  and  their  only  protection  is  their 
speed.  So  fatiguing  is  the  work  of  the  men  aboard  these 
little  wasps  of  the  ocean  that  the  crews  have  to  be  changed 
every  few  days,' 


82  THE    DEADLY    AIR-GUN. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
THE    DEADLY    AIR-GUN 

FIRES  A  500-POUND  CHARGE  OF  HIGH  EXPLOSIVES — ARMOR  NO 
PROTECTION  AGAINST  THESE  AERIAL  TORPEDOES,  WHICH 
CAN  BE  HURLED  RAPIDLY  AND  WITH  ABSOLUTE  PRECISION 
AT  FORT  OR  VESSEL — NOT  A  SINGLE  ACCIDENT  IN  TEN 
years'  EXPERIMENTS — TO  BE  USED  IN  THE  DEFENCES  OF 
BALTIMORE. 

As  the  pneumatic  tire  has  revolutionized  the  bicycle,  so 
from  all  indications  will  the  pneumatic  gun  revolutionize 
modern  warfare.  Charges  of  high  explosives — dynamite, 
nitro-glycerine,  nitro-gelatine,  gun-cotton,  etc. — up  to  500 
pounds,  may  be  hurled  through  the  air  in  such  manner  that 
the  nets  or  armor  of  a  hostile  warship  afford  absolutely  no 
protection  against  the  destructive  projectile. 

FOR  OFFENCE  AND'  DEFENCE. 

It  is  valuable  for  both  ofTence  and  defence.  It  is  adapted 
not  only  for  harbor  and  coast  defence,  but  for  bombardment, 
naval  warfare,  countermining,  etc.  Very  small  charges  have 
sometimes  been  fired  from  powder  guns,  but  more  frequently 
it  has  resulted  in  bursting  the  gun,  a  result  that  is  bound  to 
follow  in  all  cases  where  powder  is  used.  The  advantage  of 
compressed  air  lies  in  the  fact  that  when  it  expands  it  cools 
rather  than  heats  the  gun.  Extensive  experiments  have  been 
conducted  with  these  pneumatic  guns  for  the  past  ten  years, 
and  never  during  all  these  experiments  has  a  single  accident 
of  any  kind  occurred. 


THE    DEADLY    AIR-GUN.  83 

AERIAL  TORPEDOES. 

Under-water  torpedoes  move  slowly,  and  are  turned  aside 
by  floating  obstacles,  currents  and  tides  for  which  allowance 
cannot  be  made,  and  they  are  stopped  by  steel  nettings.  The 
aerial  torpedo  or  projectile  from  the  pneumatic  gun  goes 
straight  and  rapidly  on  its  course  through  the  air,  turning 
neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  until  it  enters  the  water 
and  strikes  the  under-water  part  of  a  vessel,  which  has  no 
time  to  move  out  of  its  path,  exploding  with  most  disastrous 
effect. 

These  guns,  manufactured  by  the  Pneumatic  Torpedo  Com- 
pany of  New  York  city,  now  guard  the  defences  at  Sandy 
Hook,  and  are  talked  of  to  guard  the  entrance  to  the  Chesa- 
peake at  Cape  Henry,  at  which  point  Baltimore,  Washing- 
ton, Annapolis,  Norfolk,  Portsmouth,  Alexandria,  Newport 
News  and  Richmond  should  be  protected. 

FOR    SEACOAST    DEFENCE. 

The  seacoast  gun  is  a  breech-loading,  smooth-bore,  fifty 
feet  in  length  and  fifteen  inches  in  diameter  of  bore.  The 
breech-block  is  much  lighter  than  in  powder  guns,  and  the 
breech  mechanism  is  exceedingly  simple,  two  motions  being 
required  to  open  it.  the  first  consisting  in  turning  the  block 
through  an  angle  of  ten  degrees  and  the  second  swinging  it 
open.  The  carriage  is  mounted  upon  a  circular  racer  ring, 
and  can  be  traversed  through  360  degrees.  Upon  the  left 
side  of  the  carriage  is  located  a  platform,  upon  which  the 
gunner  stands  to  sight  and  manipulate  the  piece.  Within 
his  reach  is  a  hand  wheel  controlling  the  speed  and  direction 
of  rotation  of  an  electric  motor  located  inside  of  the  carriage, 
which  serves  to  traverse  and  elevate  the  gun.  In  case  any 
accident  should  happen  to  the  electric  motor  or  its  connec- 
tions the  gun  can  be  traversed  and  elevated  by  hand-power, 
two  winch  liandles  being  provided  for  this  purpose  on  the 
front  and  right  side  of  the  carriage.  The  electric  motor  is 
controlled   by   means   of  a   rheostat   located   underneath    the 


84  THE    DEADLY    AIR-GUN. 

platform.  The  accuracy  at  long  range  of  the  pneumatic  gun 
permits  of  the  use  of  a.  fine  telescopic  sight  having  cross  wires 
in  the  focus  of  its  eye-piece. 

Compressed  air  is  stored  in  wrought  iron  or  steel  reservoirs 
located  in  chambers  under  the  gun  platform.  A  large  valve 
is  located  near  the  breech,  which  controls  the  admission  of 
air  into  the  barrel.  The  opening  and  closing  of  this  valve  is 
entirely  automatic. 

ON    WAR    VESSEL.S. 

As  a  naval  weapon  the  gun  can  be  mounted  on  the  deck  of 
a  vessel  and  protected  by  shields  similar  to  the  ordinary  gun, 
or  it  can  be  placed  in  a  turret.  Guns  of  special  types  have 
been  designed  for  mounting  on  board  ship  and  in  torpedo- 
boats,  or  on  board  vessels  especially  designed  for  them.  The 
projectiles  are  usually  carried  in  "revolvers"  or  revolving 
magazines.  By  this  means  they  are  well  secured  when  the 
vessel  is  in  a  seaway  and  the  loading  is  greatly  facilitated. 
Ability  to  fire  rapidly  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  time  of 
action. 

In  mounting  a  battery  of  one  or  more  pneumatic  guns,  it  is 
necessary  to  establish  at  some  distance  from  the  gun  an  air- 
compressing  plant.  This  plant  should  be  located  in  some 
protected  place,  and  it  may  be  a  mile  away  from  the  guns. 
In  the  same  building  an  engine  and  dynamo  can  be  located 
for  supplying  power  to  traverse  and  elevate  the  gun. 

"Two  types  of  projectiles  arc  used,  one  termed  a  full  calibre, 
which  fits  the  bore  of  the  gun  closely,  the  other  a  sub- 
calibre  which  is  considerably  smaller  than  the  bore  of  the  gun. 

ROTATION    OF    PROJECTILES. 

They  all  have  ogival  heads  and  long  bodies.  The  gun  being 
a  smooth-bore,  rotation  is  given  to  the  projectiles  as  they 
move  through  the  air  by  means  of  spiral  vanes  attached  to  the 
rear  end  of  the  projectile.  Since  the  pressure  used  is  only 
1000  pf)unds  per  square  inch,  the  walls  of  the  projectiles  are 


TUE    DEADLY    AIR-GUN.  87 

made  very  thin,  which  gives  a  very  large  capacity  for  the 
explosive  charge. 

The  full  calibre  projectile  is  about  ten  feet  in  length  and  has 
a  capacity  for  500  pounds  of  high  explosive.  The  point  is 
made  of  bronze,  the  body  a  steel  tube  three-sixteenths  of  an 
inch  in  thickness,  and  the  base  of  bronze. 

The  possibility  of  controlling  the  range  of  the  projectile 
with  nicety  renders  it  probable  that  the  dynamite  cruiser  will 
play  an  entirely  novel  role  in  an  attack  upon  a  harbor  pro- 
tected by  fixed  submarine  torpedoes;  that  is,  she  may  destroy 
torpedoes  by  torpedoes.  One  hundred  pounds  of  nitro-gela- 
tine  exploding  under  water  will  destroy  torpedo-cases  and 
blow  up  torpedoes  existing  anywhere  within  a  radius  of  fifty 
feet. 

A  series  of  experiments  have  been  made  with  these  guns  on 
the  Vesuvius  at  Port  Royal,  S.  C,  which  have  proven  highly 
satisfactory. 


88       HOW  WiJ  WILL  SINK  THE  VRISTOBAL  COLON. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
HOW    WE    WILL    SINK    THE    CRISTOBAL    CpLON. 

BY  A  NAVAL  OFFICER  ABOARD  THE  RAM  KATAHDIN. 

We  have  in  our  navy  one  boat  which  alone  could  fight  the 
whole  much-vaunted,  over-valued,  self-confident  Spanish 
navy.  This  vessel,  boat,  warship,  ram,  or  whatever  you  may 
call  it,  is  the  deadliest  weapon  ever  invented.  It  is  absolutely 
impregnable  to  fire,  and  even  dynamite  glances  off  it  as  it 
would  off  a  lady's  hatpin.  When  stripped  for  action  it  lies 
almost  on  the  water  line,  and  its  entire  top  rigging  can  be  re- 
moved. Positively  the  only  point  visible  is  one  solitary  tur- 
ret, which  must  be  hit  squarely  like  a  bull's  eye,  or  else  the 
people  inside  would  not  know  they  had  been  struck.  Any- 
where else  the  shot  and  shell  would  roll  off  like  pebbles  off 
a  slanting  roof. 

A    NAVAL    WONDER. 

This  wonderful  ship  is  the  ram  Katahdin,  and  now  that  war 
is  actually  on  this  wonderful  piece  of  marine  architecture 
which  has  hitherto  been  kept  silent  by  the  government— in  fact 
has  never  had  a  full  crew  upon  her,  can  be  mentioned.  It  is 
such  a  marvelous  piece  of  work  that  the  Holland  submarine 
boat  is  not  to  be  compared  to  it — no,  nor  twenty  such  boats. 
I  would  rather  have  the  ram  Katahdin  to  fight  a  war  fleet  than 
the  whole  flying  squadron.  Put  me  in  command  of  the  ram 
Katahdin  and  I  will  sink  every  vessel  in  the  White  Squadron 
without  trouble,  just  as  the  Merrimac  came  near  sinking  the 
whole  Union  fleet. 

This  warship  works,  as  its  name  indicates,  by  ramming.     It 


HOW  WE  WILL  SINK  THE  CRISTOBAL  COLON.       89 

is  a  literal  steel  arrow,  which  jags  its  way  into  the  side  of  a 
cruiser.  No  Indian  arrow  with  pointed  edge  and  poisoned 
tip  could  ever  do  the  damage  to  a  ship  that  this  ram  Katahdin 
does  to  the  marine  cruiser. 

It  is  so  deadly  in  its  work  that  it  is  almost  barbarous.  Not 
even  the  ancient  American  ever  conceived  anything  quite  so 
deadly.  The  British  navy  at  one  time  refused  to  accept  such 
a  hostile  instrument  of  battle,  and  would  not  allow  one  to  be 
built.  Finally,  however,  it  did,  and  turned  out  the  British 
ironclad  Camperdown,  which  was  much  of  the  same  shape, 
although  it  lacked  many  of  the  works  of  the  Katahdin.  The 
Camperdown  came  in  contact  with  .the  steel  sides  of  the  great 
battleship  Victoria,  with  the  result  that  the  Victoria  was  in- 
stantly sunk.  The  Camperdown  received  a  blow  which  sent 
her  into  dry-dock  for  months,  and  so  the  test  was  not  consid- 
ered successful. 

The  Katahdin,  like  the  Camperdown,  can  deliver  a  blow- 
that  will  sink  any  cruiser,  but,  superior  to  the  Camperdown. 
it  will  not  injure  herself.  That  has  been  demonstrated  by  ex- 
periments of  the  Katahdin.  The  Katahdin  has  been  run  into 
docks  of  solid  wood;  it  has  been  rammed  against  steel-cov- 
ered posts;  it  has  been  driven  into  steel  walls  and  subjected 
in  every  way  to  the  severest  tests  known  to  the  navy,  and  al- 
ways without  injury  to  herself. 

A  British  naval  official,  commenting  on  the  Katahdin,  said 
that  she  was  well  worth  the  building,  even  though  she  should 
destroy  herself,  "for,"  said  he,  "the  Katahdin  cost  only 
$1,000,000  and  a  cruiser  costs  $4,000,000.  It  is  worth  while,  by 
mathematical  computation,  any  day  in  the  week  to  destroy  a 
$4,000,000  cruiser  with  a  $1,000,000  ram." 


THE    ATTACK. 

The  Katahdin  works  as  the  Britons  of  old  fought— face  to 
face  and  at  short  range.  It  sights  a  cruiser,  approaches  .it  un- 
til within  striking  distance  and  then  strikes.  She  is  clothed 
with  armor  sufficiently  strong  to  deflect  any  projectile  which 
would  be  likely  to  strike  her  mass'^e  steel   sides  as  she  ap- 


90       MOW  WE  WILL  SINK  THE  CRISTOBAL  COLOX. 

proaclies.  She  has  high  speed  and  such  manoeuvring  powers 
that,  as  she  dashes  at  an  enemy,  she  can  turn  aside  to  avoid 
the  shell.  The  gunner  aboard  the  cruiser  who  is  aiming  at 
the  Katahdin  must  constantly  change  his  aim.  The  little  ram 
is  approaching  rapidly,  so  that  at  each  fire  the  gunner  must 
change  the  angle  of  the  gun.  At  the  same  time  he  must  turn 
it  from  side  to  side  to  catch  the  Katahdin.  She,  meanwhile, 
is  driving  straight  at  the  cruiser.  When  she  has  approached 
to  within  twenty  feet  she  hurls  her  weight  of  2,000,000  pounds 
at  the  enemy's  ship,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  future  of 
that  ship  is  not  worth  writing. 

The  Katahdin  was  designed  by  Admiral  Ammen,  of  the 
United  States  navy,  who  had  such  faith  in  her  that  he  made 
no  provision  for  a  battery  of  any  description.  Since  building, 
however,  she  has  been  mounted  with  four  rapid-firing  six- 
pounders.  These  are  intended,  however,  only  for  defence. 
They  are  not  suf^ciently  powerful  to  be  of  any  service  in  an 
action  with  a  cruiser,  yet  it  is  a  cruiser  which  the  Katahdin 
is  designed  to  destroy. 

As  soon  as  she  has  approached  near  enough  to  ram  into  the 
side  of  the  cruiser  she  does  her  work  and  then  darts  away, 
leaving  it  to  sink.  If  there  are  other  cruisers  she  makes  for 
them,  they  meanwhile  sending  their  volleys  of  shot  upon  her 
steel  sides.  It  is  thus  claimed  that  the  Katahdflin  could  van- 
quish a  whole  fleet,  and  I  cannot  see  why  this  should  not  be 
so.  She  strikes  the  cruiser  at  the  water  line  at  a  point  where 
it  is  positively  weak. 

DYNAMITE   USELESS. 

There  is  absolutely  no  projectile  built  which  can  pierce 
the  upper  part  of  an  ironclad.  With  all  our  talk  about  dyna- 
mite and  shells,  we  have  not  yet  built  a  gun  sufficiently  power- 
ful to  pierce  the  steel  sides  of  a  warship  above  the  water. 

In  this  connection  the  remarks  of  the  Chinese  admiral, 
Yanghi,  about  the  conduct  of  his  vessel  in  the  Japanese-Chi- 
nese war  are  interesting: 

"The  Tsen  Tsing  was  struck  200  times  above  the  water  line 


HOW  WE  WILL  SINK  THE  CRISTOBAL  COLON.      93 

by  no  fewer  than  200  projectiles,  but  her  armor  was  not  dam- 
aged beyond  a  dent  three  inches  deep.  One  shell,  however, 
struck  her  below  the  water  line  and  she  was  disabled." 

This  shows  that  the  Chinese  vessel  stood  200  or  more  shells 
without  showing  more  than  a  slight  dentation,  but  it  does 
not  say  how  she  would  have  acted  if  the  attack  had  been  made 
entirely  under  water,  or  upon  her  lower  parts.  It  is  possible 
to  remedy  the  destruction  that  must  come  to  a  ship  when 
attacked  on  her  lower  parts  because  of  its  weight.  The  ram 
Katahdin  strikes  below  the  water  and  does  inestimable  harm. 

The  Katahdin  can  be  described  as  a  twin-screw  armor- 
plated  vessel  of  2050  tons  displacement.  Her  original  design 
called  for  a  vessel  243  feet  in  length,  but  contractors  studied 
the  plans  and  proposed  an  addition  of  about  eight  feet,  urging 
that  the  additional  space  would  greatly  aid  the  vessel's  coal- 
carrying  capacity.  The  change  was  approved  by  the  Navy 
Department,  and  also  was  it  authorized  that  a  solid  steel  cast- 
ing for  the  stem  be  substituted  for  the  original  head,  which 
was  originally  proposed.  The  height  of  the  conning  tower 
was  also  increased. 

The  vessel  measures  now  250  feet  nine  inches  in  length,  and 
has  an  extreme  breadth  of  beam  of  forty-three  feet  five  inches. 
When  coaled  and  commissioned  for  service  her  mean  draft  will 
be  fifteen  feet.  Her  engines,  which  are  of  the  vertical,  triple- 
expansion  type,  are  expected  to  give  an  indicated  horse-power 
of  4800,  and  to  develop  a  speed  of  seventeen  knots  per  hour. 

The  Katahdin's  coal  supply  is  175  tons.  Her  engines  are  in 
separate  compartments  and  each  is  wholly  independent  of  the 
other,  so  that  if  one  engine  is  ofif  or  out  of  order  another 
machine  can  be  called  into  use.  The  propellers,  which  are 
three-bladed,  are  of  manganese  bronze. 

The  armor  which  protects  the  ship's  curved  deck  has  sufii- 
cient  resisting  qualities  to  deflect  missiles  from  any  but  the 
highest-powered  ordnance,  such  as  are  placed  along  shore, 
but  too  heavy  for  vessels.  The  hatches  have  armored  plates, 
and  the  smokestacks  and  ventilators  are  protected  by  six 
inches  of  steel. 


94       HOW  WE  WILL  .SINK  THE  CRINTOBAL  COLON. 

Now,  do  you  doubt  that  we  can  sink  the  Christobal  Colun, 
and  if  not,  where  is  our  weak  point?  Our  armor  is  three 
times  as  heavy  and  when  stripped  we  lay  on  the  water  edges 
so  that  we  cannot  be  struck.  We  work  under  the  water,  and 
our  weapon  has  escaped  without  a  bayonet  scratch.  We  are 
driven  forward  by  electricity  and  steam — the  most  powerful 
known  elements. 


HOW    BIG    SHIPi^    ACT    IN    BATTLE.  95 


CHAPTER    IX. 

HOW   BIG    SHIPS   ACT   IN    BATTLE. 

DETAILED  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  MATANZAS 
— A  SPLENDID  EXHIBITION  OF  GUNNERY — SCENES  ON 
BOARD    DURING    THE   TERRIFIC   ROAR    AND    DIN. 

The  correspondent  of  the  Associated  Press  who  was  on  the 
Flagship  New  York  furnishes  the  following  account  of  the 
bombardment  of  Matanzas,  which  took  place  on  Wednesday, 
the  29th  of  April,  1898.    It  was  the  first  battle  of  the  war: 

This  engagement,  the  first  in  which  the  United  States  Navy 
has  participated  for  about  thirty  years,  occurred  quite  unex- 
pectedly. The  New  York  was  lying  about  twenty  miles  east 
of  Havana  at  10.30  yesterday  morning,  when  Rear-Admiral 
Sampson  decided  to  steam  to  Matanzas.  At  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor  the  monitor  Puritan  and  the  cruiser  Cincinnati 
met  the  flagship.  A  stiff  wind  was  blowing,  and  the  waves 
poured  over  the  low  bow  and  stern  of  the  monitor.  At  slow 
speed  the  flagship  proceeded  toward  the  harbor,  the  Puritan 
following  half  a  mile  astern  and  the  Cincinnati  about  two 
miles  to  the  westward. 

SPANIARDS    ERECTING    BATTERIES. 

Rear-Admiral  Sampson  and  Captain  Chadwick  stood  on  the 
high  bridge,  carefully  surveying  forts  which  had  had  the 
temerity  to  fire  on  the  United  States  torpedo-boat  Foote. 
When  about  three  miles  from  Punta  Gorda.  the  extreme 
point  of  the  eastern  arm  of  the  harbor,  a  long,  yellow  streak 
was  seen  on  shore.  It  looked  like  a  newly-erected  earthwork. 
Closer  inspection  revealed  a  number  of  men  clustered  around 
the  shore.     Still  the  New  York  steamed  slowly  ahead  until  it 


96  HOW    BIG    SHIPS    ACT    IN    BATTLE. 

was  ascertained  without  any  doubt  that  the  Spanish  troops 
were  busy  in  erecting  what  seemed  to  be  a  sand  battery,  and 
had  already  gotten  several  guns  into  position. 

FIRING     BEGINS. 

Rear-Admiral  Sampson  decided  that  this  was  detrimental 
to  a  pacific  blockade.  "General  quarters"  was  sounded.  The 
men  rushed  to  their  guns.  When  the  New  York  was  about 
4000  yards  from  Punta  Gorda  her  helm  was  put  to  starboard, 
and  "commence  firing"  the  bugler  blew.  Naval  Cadet 
Boone,  in  charge  of  "Waist."  the  eight-inch  gun  amidships 
on  the  port  side,  had  the  honor  of  firing  the  first  shot.  The 
flagship  shook  from  stem  to  stern  as  the  first  projectile  aimed 
by  the  United  States  at  the  shore  of  Cuba  flew  from  the 
muzzle  of  the  big  gun.     This  was  at  12.56  P.  M. 

NOT    A    BAD    SHOT. 

Fifty  pairs  of  glasses  were  leveled  from  the  flagship  at  the 
shore.  It  seemed  minutes  before  the  yellow  smoke  cleared 
away,  but  in  reality  it  was  less  than  five  seconds.  Then  a 
little  cloud  of  dust  was  seen  to  rise  at  the  right  of  the  earth- 
works. For  the  first  attempt  at  4000  yards  it  was  by  no 
means  a  bad  shot.  Without  the  aid  of  glasses  the  objective 
point  could  be  clearly  defined.  With  a  deafening  roar  the 
eight-inch  gun  in  the,  forward  turret  let  fly  its  iron  missile. 
It  landed  high.  The  after  turret  came  next  with  the  same- 
sized  projectile.  A  shout  of  delight  went  up  from  the  flag- 
ship as  a  dense  cloud  rose  slowly  from  the  very  center  of  the 
earthworks,  showing  how  true  had  been  the  aim. 

A    REGULAR    FUSILLADE. 

Then  from  the  entire  port  side  a  fearful  fusillade  was  poured 
on  the  shore,  the  four  turret  guns  firing  almost  simultane- 
ously and  the  four-inch  guns  adding  their  smaller  hail.  When 
the  smoke   blew  away   Punta    Gorda   was    dotted   with    dust 


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HOW    BIG    tiUIPS    ACT    IN    BATTLE.  99 

clouds  that  looked  like  miniature  geysers  springing  suddenly 
from  the  earth.  Each  showed  where  a  shot  had  struck.  At 
this  stage  the  guns  in  the  Qintas  Da  Recreo  battery  were  ob- 
served to  be  firing  on  the  flagship.  This  fort  is  on  the  east- 
ward arm  of  tlie  harbor,  7000  yards  from  where  the  flagship 
was  lying.  It  is  provided  with  four  eight-inch  guns.  The 
flagship's  fire  was  at  once  directed  upon  it.  Up  to  this  period 
the  New  York  had  been  in  the  firing  alone.  Captain  Har- 
rington on  the  Puritan  and  Captain  Chester  on  the  Cincin- 
nati had  drawn  up  and  were  vigorously  signaling  for  permis- 
sion to  fire.  When  this  was  reported  to  Rear-Admiral 
Sampson  he  said  "all  right;  tell  them  to  go  ahead." 


PURITAN     AND     CINCINNATI. 

So,  while  the  New  York  was  commencing  fire  on  Quintas 
Da  Recreo,  the  Puritan  took  a  position  to  the  eastward  and 
opened  on  the  same  point.  The  Cincinnati  went  to  the  west- 
ward and  pounded  a  rapid-fire  broadside  into  the  earthworks 
on  Punta  Gorda.  Occasionally  shots  from  Quintas  Da 
Recreo  could  be  seen  coming  in  the  direction  of  the  New 
York.  All  fell  very  short,  and  at  no  time  threatened  the 
ship.  Only  about  ten  shots  are  believed  to  have  been  fired 
from  this  battery  during  the  whole  engagement.  However, 
there  may  have  been  more.  It  is  possible  that  its  guns  may 
have  been  disabled,  as  two  eight-inch  shells  were  distinctly 
seen  to  land  squarely  in  the  fort.  Its  distance  from  the  ship 
was  so  great  and  the  smoke,  which  the  wind  took  in  its  direc- 
tion, so  thick,  that  it  was  hard  to  judge  the  efifect  of  the  fire, 
and  still  harder  to  get  good  aim. 

GUNS  TURNED  ON  PUNTA  GORDA. 

For  about  five  minutes  Quintas  Da  Recreo  got  the  full  ben- 
efit of  the  port  broadsides  of  the  New  York  and  Puritan. 
What  its  ultimate  fate  would  have  been  is  hard  to  tell  had  not 
attention  been  diverted  from  it  by  a  shell  from  Punta  Gorda 


100  HOW    BIG    SHIPS    ACT    IN    BATTLE. 

that  whizzed  over  the  New  York  and  fell  a  little  short  of  the 
Cincinnati. 

Leaving  Quintas  Da  Recreo  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
Puritan,  which  was  still  merrily  banging  away,  Captain  Chad- 
wick  put  his  helm  to  starboard  until  the  port  battery  once 
more  bore  on  the  Punta  Gorda  earthworks.  Another  shell 
came  from  shore  whizzing  along  over  the  flagship.  "Too 
high,  but  a  better  shot  than  I  thought  they  could  make,"  said 
an  officer. 

SMOKE    HIDES    THE    VIEWr. 

Then  the  Cincinnati  and  the  New  York  poured  shot  into 
the  yellow  earthworks  and  the  surrounding  land  until  the 
smoke  hid  everything  from  view.  Only  one  more  shot  from 
Punta  Gorda  was  noticed.  It  fell  short  of  the  New  York  by 
about  200  yards.  It  was  believed  to  come  not  from  the  earth- 
works, but  from  a  field  battery  on  the  brow  of  a  slight  hill 
about  half  a  mile  further  inland  than  the  earthworks.  In 
fact,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  shots  were  fired  from  the 
earthworks  after  the  two  or  three  broadsides  had  been  poured 
into  them.  What  became  of  the  soldiers  seen  on  Punta 
Gorda  is  not  known.  Some  declared  they  saw  them  running 
to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  where  the  field  battery  was  thought 
to  be  stationed.  But  this,  as  well  as  the  estimate  of  the 
enemy's  number,  which  ranged  from  400  to  4000,  was 
purely  supposition,  distance  and  smoke  preventing  accurate 
knowledge. 

BIG    GAPS    IN     THE     E.\RTHWORK. 

At  1. 15  P.  M.,  when  the  bombardment  was  at  its  height, 
and  after  it  had  been  in  progress  for  nineteen  minutes,  Rear- 
Admiral  Sampson  ordered  "cease  firing"  to  be  sounded.  A 
few  shots  rang  out  from  the  Cincinnati  and  Puritan  before 
they  caught  the  signal.  On  shore  all  was  quiet.  Not  a  soul 
could  be  seen  there,  and  there  was  no  more  firing.  The 
earthworks  a  quarter-hour  before  had  presented  a  fairly  reg- 
ular outline,  but  now  they  had  a  jagged  appearance.  Big 
gaps  were  plainly  visible  at  Quintas  Da  Recreo,  but  there  wa? 


BOW   BIO    SHIPS    ACT   IN    BATTLE.  101 

not  a  sign  of  life  there.  Admiral  Sampson  had  efifectually 
stopped  the  work  on  Punta  Gorda.  He  had  drawn  the  fire 
of  the  enemy  and  had  discovered  exactly  the  quality  and  loca- 
tion of  their  batteries,  besides  affording  his  three  ships  good 
target  practice.  Incidentally  he  had  put  the  fear  of  American 
guns  into  Spanish  hearts. 

COULD    HAVE    CAPTURED    THE    TOWN. 

It  would  have  been  perfectly  feasible  for  these  three  ships, 
unaided,  to  have  steamed  past  the  fortifications  right  into 
Matanzas  and  taken  it  or  shelled  it  at  pleasure.  The  only 
risk  run  would  have  been  from  mines.  However,  Matanzas 
was  not  wanted,  luckily  for  it.  After  satisfying  himself  that 
his  object  had  been  accomplished,  Admiral  Sampson  headed 
back  for  Havana. 

The  Puritan  and  Cincinnati  were  left  to  look  after  Matan- 
zas, and  they  will  see  to  it  that  Matanzas  is  not  the  scene  of 
much  work  on  fortifications  in  the  near  future. 

CINCINNATI    NOT    SATISFIED. 

The  readiness  to  assume  this  task  can  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  shortly  after  the  signal  '-cease  firing"  had  been 
given.  Captain  Chester  asked  permission  to  reopen.  This 
was  refused.  Admiral  Sampson  evidently  thinking  that  Ma- 
tanzas had  had  enough  for  one  afternoon.  During  the  bom- 
bardment the  New  York's  engines  at  intervals  went  slowl> 
astern,  keeping  a  steady  range  of  4000  yards  on  Punta  Gorda 
and  7000  on  Quintas  Da  Recreo.  the  machinery  working  per- 
fectly, not  only  in  the  engine-room,  but  throughout  the 
whole  ship.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  electric  ammuni- 
tion hoists  and  turret  training  gear,  two  of  the  most  essen- 
tial parts  of  a  ship's  equipment  during  action. 

NAVAL    POINT    OF    VIEW. 

From  the   naval   point   of  view   few,   if  any,   lessons   were 


102  HOW    BIG    miPfi    ACT    IN    BATTLE. 

learned  from  the  bombardment,  though  the  range  at  which 
the  shooting  was  carried  on  was  a  satisfactory  test  of  marks- 
manship. The  distance,  however,  prevented  the  stafT  from 
ascertaining  the  efifect  of  the  heavy  explosive  projectiles  on 
the  earthworks.  Quintas  Da  Recreo  appeared  to  be  an  old 
style  of  fort,  low,  and  lying  near  the  water's  edge.  The  bat- 
tery was  probably  behind  a  recently-constructed  sandwork. 


WHAT    IT    DEMONSTRATED. 

From  the  lay  ponit  of  view,  the  bombardment  appeared  to 
demonstrate  several  things.  It  proved  that  the  officers,  from 
Rear-Admiral  Sampson  down,  are  perfectly  cool  in  the  face 
of  danger  and  in  action;  that  they  have  superb  control  over 
their  men  at  the  most  exciting  and  trying  moments,  and  that 
the  latter  are  as  steady  and  courageous  when  the  guns  roar 
and  the  shells  whistle  as  when  they  muster  to  morning  and 
evening  quarters  in  time  of  peace.  All  these  qualities  are 
taken  for  granted  by  any  naval  officer.  They  are  the  postu- 
lates of  his  discipline.  He  would  be  surprised  if  it  were 
otherwise. 

A  warship's   power. 

In  the  second  place,  the  bombardment  gave  an  excellent, 
though  at  the  same  time  a  frightful  illustration  of  a  warship's 
death-dealing  powers.  Tremendous  broadsides  poured  with- 
out cessation  on  the  little  streak  of  earthworks.  Had  a  single 
ship  been  in  the  place  where  the  shells  fell  it  seems  as  if  she 
would  have  been  blown  to  bits  before  she  could  have  returned 
the  fire.  When  a  io,ooo-ton  ship,  usually  as  steady  as  a  rock. 
shakes  and  trembles  like  a  frightened  cliild;  when  firmly- 
fitted  bolts  start  from  their  sockets  and  window  panes  and 
woodwork  are  shattered:  when  the  roar  peals  up  from  port 
and  starboard  and  you  feel  your  feet  leaving  the  deck  and 
your  glasses  jurnping  around  your  forehead,  wliilc  a  blinding, 
blackening  smoke  hides  everything  from  sight,  then  it  is  you 
first  realize  the  terrible  power  of  a  modern  warship's  batteries. 


X 
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2 

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how    niG    SHIPS    ACT    IN    BATTLE.  105 

THE    ADMIRAL    A    CENTER    OF    INTEREST. 

Scenes  of  intense  interest  occurred  on  the  flagship's  deck 
during  the  bombardment.  The  center  of  attraction  naturally 
was  the  forward  bridge,  where  Rear-Admiral  Sampson  paced 
up  and  down,  his  long  glass  in  hand,  pausing  now  and  then 
to  watch  the  effect  of  the  shots,  impassive  as  if  at  sub-caliber 
target  practice  of¥  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Captain  Chadwick  was 
at  his  side,  in  the  dual  capacity  of  chief  of  stafif  and  captain  of 
the  ship,  equally  calm  and  giving  orders  continuously  regard- 
ing the  direction  of  the  fire  and  the  handling  of  the  ship. 
Lieutenant  Stanton,  assistant  chief  of  staff:  Lieutenant  Com- 
mander Potter,  executive  of^cer  of  the  ship,  and  Lieutenant 
J.  Roller,  the  navigator,  all  were  on  the  bridge  and  as  busy  as 
they  could  be.  Three  men  were  at  the  wheel,  and  the  usual 
stafT  lookouts  and  signal  boys  were  in  their  places.  The 
conning  tower,  with  its  heavily-protected  sides,  was  without 
an  occupant.  The  whistling  of  a  few  shells  could  not  drive 
the  men  who  direct  the  fighting  squadron  from  their  unpro- 
tected point  of  vantage. 

CHAPLAIN     ROYCE    READY. 

Directly  beneath  the  bridge  on  the  superstructure,  just  aft 
of  and  slightly  above  the  forward  turret,  stood  Chaplain 
Royce,  ready  to  give  the  last  consolation.  The  chaplain  and 
the  three  doctors  were  the  only  persons  on  board  who  sm- 
cerely  hoped  they  would  have  no  work  to  do.  Near  the  chap- 
lain stood  Richard  Harding  Davis,  representing  the, London 
Times;  Ralph  D.  Paine,  representing  the  Philadelphia  Press, 
and  the  correspondent  of  the  Associated  Press.  All  others 
on  board  were  at  their  regular  stations,  directing  the  gun 
crews,  rushing  up  ammunition  from  below  or  standing  pa- 
tiently in  the  engine-room,  waiting  to  back  or  go  ahead  as 
the  telegraph  signaled. 

SPLENDID    WORK    OF    THE    JACKIES. 

The  way  the  jackies  worked  at  their  guns   was   splendid. 


106  HOW     {{HI    SIIII'S    ACT    IN    BATTLE. 

Many  of  them  were  stripped  to  the  waist.  Tlic  muscles  stood 
out  on  their  bare,  tattooed  arms.  The  perspiration  ran  down 
their  faces,  and  mixing  with  the  gunpowder,  made  grim 
streaks  of  black  over  their  skin.  When  "cease  firing' 
sounded  disappointment  was  written  visibly  on  all  their  faces. 
But  the  decks  were  quickly  swept,  the  shrouds  rehooked,  the 
guns  cooled  and  washed,  and  at  dinner,  when  the  band  played 
"The  Stars  and  Stripes  Forever,"  there  were  few  signs  to 
show  that  the  flagship  New  York  had  been  in  action  for 
the  first  time  in  her  career. 

To  those  on  board  the  flagship  who  had  never  before  been 
on  a  warship  when  she  was  firing  both  batteries  at  once,  and 
who  had  never  heard  the  shells  whistle  through  the  air,  the 
experience  was  not  so  bad  as  was  anticipated.  The  noise  of 
the  guns  deafened  some  slightly;  but  a  timely  application  of 
wool  to  the  ears  deadened  its  eff"ect,  and,  taken  all  in  all,  the 
shock  of  the  broadside  was  not  so  great  as  had  been  expected. 

A   CH.\RACTERISTIC   INCIDENT. 

The  most  characteristic  incident  of  the  bombardment  of 
]\Tatanzas,  and  one  that  will  go  down  in  history  as  an  instance 
of  Yankee  pluck,  occurred  in  the  sick  bay  on  the  flagship. 
Eleven  sailors  were  lying  there,  listening  to  the  shots,  all 
eager  to  get  on  deck.  Suddenly,  as  if  moved  by  a  common 
impulse,  four  of  them  sprang  from  their  cots.  One  had  ma- 
laria, two  had  grippe,  and  another  a  high  fever:  but  their  ail- 
ments were  forgotten  as  they  rushed  out  to  their  gun  divis- 
ions and  took  their  usual  stations.  Despite  their  entreaties  to 
be  allowed  to  stay,  they  were  ordered  back  to  the  sick  bay,  to 
which  they  sorrowfully  returned.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
say  that  these  four  splendid  specimens  of  "the  man  behind 
the  gun"  were  not  reported  for  breach  of  discipline. 


A    SHIP    IN    ACTION.  101 


CHAPTER    X. 
A    SHIP    IN    Af'TIOX. 

PERIL  ON  DECK  AND  BELOW  AND  ABOVE— PERIL  FOR  OFFICER 
AND  MARINE — A  TIME  WHEN  MEN  DON't  WANT  TO  IIinF — 
MANY    KINDS    OF   DEATH    ABOUT    IN    A    SEA    FIGHT. 

There  has  been  a  great  amount  of  speculation  lately  as  to 
the  safest  spot  on  a  modern  man-of-war  in  a  sea  fight.     It  has 
been  asserted  that  the  men  below  in  the  engine  and  fire  rooms 
and  in  the  bunkers  are  bound  to  have  the  best  of  it,  not  only 
because  their  duties  keep  most  of  them  below  the  water  line, 
and  therefore  out  of  the  way  of  the  raking  of  rapid-firing  bat- 
teries, but  also  because  they  are  shielded  above  by  protective 
decks   and   all   around   by    boiler    and    machinery   protecting 
armor.     The  men  who  hold  to  this  view  forget  all  about  the 
matter  of  torpedoes.     Some  other  amateur  sea  fighters  of  the 
land,  landly,  take  the  view  tliat  the  men  on  deck  have  a  better 
show  in  a  naval  engagement,  for  the  reason  that  they  have  a 
chance  to  swim  for  it  and  to  be  picked  up  by  the  enemy  as 
prisoners   of   war   if  their   vessel   is    sunk.     They   assume,   of 
course,  that  the  enemy  is  in  the  habit  of  picking  up  the  cast- 
away   members    of   a    defeated    and    submerged    ship's    crew. 
This  is  by  no  means  a  safe  assumption.     The  enemy  has  often 
rescued  and  held  as  prisoners  of  war  members  of  the  crew 
of  a  beaten  ship,  but  just  as  often  has  permitted  them  to  keep 
right  on  swimming.     So  long  a  period  has  elapsed  since  there 
have  been  naval  fights  between  entirely  civilized  powers  that 
the  two  countries  that  next  engage  in  battles  at  sea  will  have 
the  responsibility  of  creating  new  rules  of  warfare,  and  one 
of  the  rules  ought  to  cover  this  point. 

In  any  event,  speculation  as  to  whether  the  deck  force  or 
the  gang  below  will  have  the  better  of  the  bargain  in  a  pitched 


108  A    SHIP   IN    ACTION. 

sea  fight  must  be  based  almost  wholly  on  theory.  Captain 
McGiffin,  the  lion-hearted  American  naval  officer  whose  ob- 
servations on  the  sea  fight  of  the  Yalu  form  about  the  only 
practical  basis  for  considerations  about  battles  between  mod- 
ern ships,  should  surely  have  known  something  about  the 
safe  spot  on  board  a  naval  vessel.  He  was  on  the  deck  of  his 
ship,  the  best  of  the  Chinese  fleet,  during  the  entire  action  on 
the  Yalu.  The  writer  asked  him,  soon  after  his  return  from 
China,  if  there  were  not  moments  during  the  fight  in  which 
he  felt  like  making  a  run  for  it. 

"Run  where?"  was  McGif^n's  inquiry.  "I  can't  truthfully 
say  that  I  felt  like  bolting  for  it  at  all  during  that  mix.  I 
didn't  have  time  to  think  of  anything  like  that.  There  was 
too  much  going  on  on  deck,  anyhow,  and  I  didn't  want  to 
miss  anything.  The  most  cowardly  man  becomes  quite  for- 
getful of  danger  in  a  sea  fight,  as  a  rule.  We  had  three  men- 
lubberly  coolies — who  were  found  hiding  away  up  forward  on 
the  berth  deck  when  the  fight  was  finished.  The  men  who 
found  them  nearly  beat  them  to  death.  A  very  great  feeling 
of  curiosity  animates  all  hands  in  a  battle  at  sea.  Chinamen 
are  about  the  least  curious  men  in  the  world;  yet  the  deck 
officers  on  my  ship  had  great  trouble  in  keeping  the  members 
of  the  black  gang,  the  firemen  and  coal  passers,  and  even  the 
machinists,  down  below  during  the  action.  They  kept  poking 
their  hands  above  the  main  deck,  lifting  oflf  hatches  for  the 
purpose,  to  see  how  we  were  making  out.  On  the  whole  I 
think  the  men  down  below  are  more  nervous  during  a  fight 
than  the  men  on  deck.  They  are  a  bit  afraid  of  what  they 
can't  see.  It's  just  like  the  fear  of  a  man  lying  in  bed  in  a 
dark  room  when  he  knows  there  is  a  burglar  within  a  few  feet 
of  him.  The  men  on  deck  can  see  the  whole  game,  and  the 
smoke  and  the  roar  infuse  the  devil  of  battle  into  them,  and 
they  simply  don't  care  whether  the  ship  remains  on  top  or 
goes  down.  They  literally  enjoy  the  fun.  A  lot  of  our  gun- 
ners were  positively  hysterical  with  delight.  Some  of  them 
laughed  like  wild  men.  They  muttered  to  themselves  and 
howled  like  drunkards.  Indeed,  half  the  ship's  company 
looked  to  me  as  if  they  were  three  parts  drunk  after  the  fight, 


<f\ 


A    SHIP    IN    ACTION.  Ill 

yet  there  was  no  grog.  They  reeled  about,  with  silly,  .drunken 
expressions  on  their  faces,  although  they  knew  we  licked. 

"But  as  for  running,  where  would  a  man  with  any  sense  run 
during  an  action,  even  if  he  felt  sure  that  the  marines  of  his 
ship  wouldn't  shoot  him  down  for  cowardice?  There  is  no 
sweet  berth  when  your  ship  is  cleared  for  action.  On  deck 
or  below,  fore  or  aft,  every  man's  chance  is  about  equal,  all 
things  considered.  The  commanding  officer  has  no  better 
show  than  the  rawest  landsman.  I'd  rather  be  on  deck  any 
time  in  a  fight.  I  don't  believe  I  could  be  induced  to  take  an 
engineer's  trick  during  an  action.  Not  that  an  engineer  or 
any  of  his  gang  stands  in  any  more  danger  than  the  deck 
force  engaged  in  fighting  the  ship,  but  the  uncertainty  that 
chokes  the  man  below  is  wearing,  as  all  of  our  engineers  and 
some  of  the  Japanese  engineers  after  it  was  all  over  told  me." 

Common  and  perfectly  equal  as  the  danger  in  which  all 
hands  on  board  a  modern  man-of-war  unquestionably  stand 
during  a  light,  there  are,  of  course,  some  stations  that  appear 
to  be  more  ticklish  for  the  men  assigned  to  them  than  others. 
For  example,  there  is  not  a  sea  soldier  in  the  United  States 
Marine  Corps  today  who  is  not  figuring  on  the  insignificant 
show  he  will  probably  have  for  his  life  if,  in  the  event  of  his 
ship's  getting  into  action,  he  is  detailed  with  a  picked  few  of 
his  mates  to  man  the  rapid-firing  guns  in  the  fighting  tops. 
At  first  glance  the  fighting  top  of  a  modern  ship  of  war  ap- 
pears to  be  the  most  dangerous  spot  on  the  ship  fore  or  aft 
in  case  of  action.  There  has  never  been  any  good  opportu- 
nity to  test  this,  for  fighting  tops  (rightly  called  military 
masts)  are  of  comparatively  recent  developments,  and  during 
the  China-Japanese  naval  engagement  no  systematic  attempt 
seems  to  have  been  made  on  either  side  to  raze  the  fighting 
tops  to  the  decks  or  into  the  sea. 

The  bluejackets  who  are  stationed  in  the  magazines  during 
a  sea  fight  are  certainly  no  better  off  than  their  mates,  either 
above  or  below  decks.  Each  commander  in  a  naval  battle 
knows  precisely  where  his  foe's  magazines  are  located,  and 
there  is  likely  to  be  some  tall  aiming  for  magazines  in  the  next 
naval   war.     To   those   who   are  unfamiliar   with   the   general 


112  A    SHIP    IN    ACTION. 

expertness  of  modern  great  gun  marksmanship  and  the  extra- 
ordinary accuracy  of  some  of  it,  it  might  seem  pure  foolish- 
ness for  a  gunner  to  make  an  attempt  to  hit  any  especial  part 
of  an  enemy's  ship  at  a  range  of  several  miles.  Those  who 
think  in  this  way,  however,  have  only  to  be  referred  to  the 
bit  of  marksmanship  performed  by  one  of  the  13-inch  crews 
of  the  battleship  Indiana  the  other  day.  This  crew,  using 
service  projectiles  and  charges  in  practice,  put  two  13-inch 
shots  right  through  the  same  hole.  This  sort  of  marksman- 
ship is  by  no  means  uncommon  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
the  standard  of  which  for  great  gun  expertness  is  as  high  as 
any  navy  in  the  world.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  gunners  of 
American  men-of-war  engaged  in  big  gun  practice  to  tear  the 
canvas  targets  to  ribbons,  at  the  very  longest  effective  ranges, 
before  the  practice  is  well  begun.  This  being  the  state  cf 
great  gun  marksmanship  at  the  present  time,  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  men  in  the  magazines  in  a  sea  fight  should 
have  no  especial  cause  for  being  happy  above  their  fellows 
over  their  stations.  One  great  gun  shell  plumped  well  over 
a  magazine  (even  though  the  magazines  be  all  far  below  the 
water  line)  is  likely  to  cause  enough  trouble  to  induce  the 
magazine  men  to  wish  they  were  on  deck,  if  they  have  a 
chance  to  think  at  all.  Moreover,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
heavy  projectile  penetrating  an  armored  ship  below  the  water 
line,  as  was  proved  on  the  Yalu,  and  if  this  should  happen  at 
a  point  on  the  ship  where  a  magazine  chanced  to  be  located 
the  men  hauling  ammunition  and  manning  the  hoists  in  the 
same  would  never  know  what  had  happened  to  them.  Then 
there  is  always  a  likelihood  of  shells  exploding  on  deck  and 
bits  finding  their  way  through  the  open  magazine  hatches — 
and  such  a  thing  would  be  dangerous  enough.  The  magazine 
men,  moreover,  have  to  work  in  practical  darkness.  Maga- 
zines on  modern  men-of-war  are,  of  course,  fitted  with  no 
standing  lights  of  any  sort.  In  times  of  peace,  when  the  gun- 
ners' mates  and  inspecting  officers  wish  to  examine  the  inte- 
riors of  magazines,  they  carry  portable  incandescent  electric 
lights  with  them,  but  in  handling  loose  ammunition  during 
actual   fighting  even  these  portabh    electric  lights   would  be 


A    SHIP   IN    ACTION.  113 

deemed  dangerous,  so  that  the  magazine  men  would  no  doubt 
have  to  grope  for  it  and  take  out  their  nervous  curiosity 
as  to  what  might  be  happening  to  their  ship  or  fleet  in  won- 
dering. 

The   officer  would  have   no   advantage   whatever   over  the 
enlisted  man  in  the  matter  of  greater  safety  in  a  modern  naval 
engagement.     The  sword-carrying  men  with  the  range-finders 
were    lopped    ofif    with    complete    impartiality    in    the    Yalu 
fight.     An  officer  in  command  of  a  gun   has  even   a  bit  the 
worst  of  the  chance  in  comparison  with  the  men  handling  the 
gun,  for  in  order  to  get  a  line  on  the  enemy  he  must  neces- 
sarily expose  himself  to  the  enemy's  scientific  rapid-fire  play, 
while  the  gunners  have  the  protection  of  the  gun  shields  and 
barbettes.     Even   the   commanding   officer  is   no   better   as   a 
war  risk  than  the  humblest  mess  attendant  in  a  fight.     His 
station  on  modern  ships  will  generally  be  in  his  ship's  conning 
tower,  and,  well  as  conning  towers  on  ships  of  war  today  are 
protected,    eminent  naval   authorities   haven't   much    faith    in 
their  invulnerability.     Conning  towers  are  necessarily  in  ex- 
posed spots— almost  always  away  forward,  beneath  where  the 
bridge  ought  to  be,  but  isn't,  when  the  ship  is  cleared  for 
action— and  gunners  of  the  enemy  are  naturally  expected  to 
do  what  they  can  toward  sending  the  commanding  officer  of 
an  antagonistic  ship  into  the  next  world  before  his  time. 

The  man  in  the  bunkers,  viz.,  the  humble  coal  passer,  is 
likely  to  have  a  dismal,  unsatisfactory  time  of  it  during  the 
progress  of  a  fight.  He  sees  absolutely  nothing,  but  what  he 
does  not  see  is  more  than  atoned  for  by  what  he  hears.  Any 
man  who  has  listened  to  the  intonation  of  great  guns  during 
target  practice  from  the  shelter  of  a  half-empty  coal  bunker 
is  likely  to  remember  the  twenty  times  amplified  thundering 
that  threatens  to  rip  his  ear  drums  in  twain.  Theoretically 
the  coal  passer  is  supposed  to  shovel  buckets  full  of  coal  and 
trundle  them  along  the  trolleys  in  the  mellow  light  of  many 
i6-candle  incandescent  lamps,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  all  mod- 
ern ships'  coal  bunkers  are  lighted.  But  the  writer,  who  has 
crawled  through  the  bunkers  of  many  a  modern  man-of-war, 
American  and  foreign,  has  found  that  standing  electric  bunker 


114  A    SHIP    IN    ACTION. 

lamps  rarely  illuminate.  The  glass  around  the  wires  is 
smashed  in  the  process  of  coaling  ship,  and,  of  course,  the 
lamps  do  not  work.  Naval  constructors  are  still  trying  to 
find  some  scheme  to  illuminate  bunkers.  The  coal  passer, 
standing  his  watch  in  the  bunker  of  a  ship  in  action,  then, 
has  the  additional  gloom  of  darkness  to  fight,  unless  he  vio- 
lates a  rigid  regulation  by  carrying  an  o'i^en  light  into  his 
bunker.  He  does  not  know  when  an  armor-piercing  shell  is 
going  to  pass  directly  through  the  bunker  he  is  working  in, 
and  altogether  his  station  in  a  fight  is  not  a  desirable  one. 
Nor  has  the  fireman  or  the  water  tender  a  very  cheerful  sta- 
tion. Both  of  these  members  of  the  black  gang,  of  course, 
are  in  the  boiler-rooms,  and  they  have  perpetually  before 
them  the  possibility  of  a  great  shell  ripping  its  way  through  a 
boiler,  thus  insuring  them  a  death  by  scalding.  The  oiler  is 
another  man  of  the  black  gang  who  has  a  title  to  feel  nervous 
when  his  ship  is  fighting,  for  he  is  always  more  or  less  tan- 
gled up  in  the  machinery,  apparently  endeavoring  to  see  how 
near  he  can  approach  death  without  actually  compassing  his 
own,  and  in  the  event  of  a  shot  dropping  through  the  deck 
and  among  the  intertwisted  masses  of  machinery  he  is  liable 
to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  the  same,  "racing  wild,"  as  the  engi- 
neers call  it.  even  if  he  is  not  done  for  by  the  explosion. 

"The  soft  spot."  as  an  old  gunner's  mate  put  it,  "is  about 
five  fathoms  beneath  her.  in  a  diving  suit." 


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BIG    GUNS.  11" 


CHAPTER   XI. 

BIG    GUNS. 

The  big  gun  in  this  present  war  with  Spain  promises  to  be 
the  decisive  factor.  Never  before  has  a  great  13-inch  gun 
had  an  opportunity  in  an  actual  engagement  to  show  what  it 
can  do.  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  looking  on  agape  at 
the  commencing  struggle,  and  students  of  the  art  of  war  ex- 
pect to  learn  a  lot  of  useful  lessons  from  its  events. 

Wonderful  in  its  destructive  effect  and  marvelous  in  its 
construction  is  the  most  powerful  type  of  modern  weapon, 
a  13-inch  gun.  This  is  the  biggest  kind  of  gun  that  is  earned 
by  any  of  our  ships.  The  Indiana  has  four  such  terrors,  and 
four  likewise  have  the  Massachusetts  and  the  Oregon.  It  is 
forty  feet  long,  weighs  sixty-one  tons,  costs  $50,000,  and  can- 
not be  made  in  less  than  a  year.  To  load  it  requires  550 
pounds  of  powder  for  each  shot,  and  it  can  be  fired  once  m 

five  minutes. 

It  throws  a  conical  steel  shell  weighing  iioo  pounds  a  dis- 
tance of  twelve  miles.  At  1500  yards  one  of  these  projectiles 
will  penetrate  twenty-three  inches  of  solid  steel.  The  pro- 
jectile at  2500  yards  has  a  smashing  energy  of  25,000  foot-tons, 
sufficient  to  lift  two  vessels  like  the  Indiana  one  foot. 

One  of  the  Indiana's  big  guns  is  able  to  deliver  crushing 
blows  as  far  as  the  target  can  be  seen.  The  distance  for 
effective  fighting  does  not  exceed  two  miles,  because,  owing 
to  the  curvature  of  the  earth,  the  hull  of  the  vessel  aimed  at  is 
apparently  below  the  water  level  when  she  is  further  off.  The 
gun  is  worked  entirely  by  hydraulic  pressure,  and  the  exer- 
tion needed  to  load,  aim  and  fire  it  is  scarcely  more  than  is 
required  to  shoot  a  self-cocking  revolver. 

A  gun  of  this  kind  discharges  two  sorts  of  projectiles— the 
bursting  shell  and  the  armor-piercing  shell.     The  former  is 


118  BIG    (WNS. 

of  cast  steel,  loaded  with  gunpowder,  and  is  so  constructed  as 
to  explode  on  impact. 

The  armor-piercing  shell  is  of  forged  and  tempered  steel, 
extremely  hard  at  the  point,  so  as  to  pass  through  a  dozen 
inches  or  more  of  Harveyized  armor  plate  without  being 
broken  up.  This  kind  of  projectile  is  designed  to  make 
holes  through  the  armor 'plates  of  a  ship,  whereas  the  explo- 
sive shell  is  meant  to  enter  through  unarmed  or  lightly- 
armored  parts  of  a  vessel,  bursting  inside  and  creating  havoc. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  even  a  battleship  carries  heavy 
armor  only  over  its  middle  part  or  vitals,  where  the  machinery 
is,  and  this  protection  extends  only  from  four  feet  above  the 
water  line  to  four  feet  below  it. 

An  armor-piercing  shell  for  a  13-inch  gun  costs  $500. 
Traveling  at  the  rate  of  nearly  half  a  mile  a  second  when  it 
leaves  the  muzzle,  nothing  can  resist  its  terrific  impart,  if  it 
strikes  fairly,  at  a  distance  of  a  mile.  The  most  that  can  be 
expected  of  the  armor  plate  is  that  it  will  not  split  into  pieces. 
When  the  projectile  passes  through,  the  corn-pith,  with 
which  the  cofferdam  behind  the  armor  is  filled,  cliokcs  up  the 
hole  and  prevents  the  entrance  of  water.  In  actual  sea-fight- 
ing, however,  armor  is  rarely  struck  so  true  and  fairly  as  to 
penetrate  it;  it  is  more  than  apt  to  divert  the  course  of  the 
shell,  which  glances  off. 

In  the  case  of  a  bursting  shell,  the  armor  causes  it  to  ex- 
plode outside  harmlessly.  A  bursting  shell  that  enters  a  ves- 
sel is  dangerous  in  four  ways;  it  makes  a  hole,  it  sets  fire  to 
woodwork,  it  throws  splinters  about  and  it  liberates  suffo- 
cating fumes. 

The  Pelayo,  which  is  Spain's  only  real  battleship,  and  which 
is  now  prowling  about  the  North  Atlantic,  has  no  guns  bigger 
than  her  two  12-inch  breech-loading  rifles.  These  are  for- 
midable weapons,  but  they  are  very  inferior  to  the  T3-inch 
rifles  of  the  American  battleships.  The  latter  can  strike  as 
hard  and  as  penetrating  blows  at  2500  yards  as  the  guns  of  the 
Pelayo  can  deliver  at  1000  yards.  In  fact,  the  difference  is 
even  greater,  inasmuch  as  a  shell  from  one  of  the  12-inch 
guns  of  the  Pelayo  strikes  with  a  force  of  21,000  foot-tons  at 


Bid    GtA'.y.  119 

TOOO  yards,  whereas,  as  stated  above,  a  projectile  from  one  of 
the  Indiana's  great  rifles  delivers  a  blow  of  25,000  foot-tons  at 
2500  yards. 

The  Indiana  carries  thirty  rapid-fire  guns  and  several  ma- 
chine guns  in  addition.  The  typical  rapid-fire  gun  is  a  rifle 
with  a  peculiar  breech  mechanism,  which  enables  it  to  be  fired 
very  fast.  In  caliber  it  runs  all  the  way  up  from  the  diameter 
of  a  one-pound  shell  to  six  inches. 

A  six-inch  rapid-fire  gun  throws  in  actual  service  three  or 
four  loo-pound  projectiles  every  minute.  The  shell  for  a 
five  nich  gun  of  this  type  weighs  fifty  pounds,  and  the  rate 
of  lire  is  slightly  greater.  A  three-inch  rapid-fire  gun  throws 
a  36-pound  shell  every  eight  seconds,  with  a  range  exceeding 
four  miles.  The  range  of  the  six-inch  gun  is  more  than  six 
miles. 

The  shells  used  for  weapons  of  this  kind  are  of  brass  and 
conical  in  shape.  More  accurately  speaking,  they  are  cylin- 
drical and  pointed  at  the  front  end.  The  projectile  for  a  six- 
inch  caliber  is  about  five  feet  high. 

From  the  figures  here  given  it  may  easily  be  imagined  what 
a  storm  of  projectiles  can  be  directed  at  any  target  at  the 
same  time.  It  is  said  that  in  the  fight  between  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese  fleets  at  Yalu  the  vessels  engaged  were  struck 
so  often  that  they  actually  turned  gray.  The  shells,  bursting 
as  they  struck,  killed  every  exposed  man  and  set  the  wood- 
work of  the  ships  on  fire  on  all  sides.  At  one  time  the  Chi- 
nese flagship  was  on  fire  in  three  places,  and  all  the  boats  on 
most  of  the  vessels  were  smashed  to  splinters  early  in  the 
contest. 

On  board  the  battleship  commanded  by  Captain  McGiffin, 
an  American  oflicer.  there  was  an  ominous  silence  in  the  mili- 
tary foretop  almost  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight.  The  ma- 
chine guns  there  mounted  discontinued  their  fire,  and  it  was 
subsequently  found  that  a  single  shell  had  killed  all  of  the 
six  men  in  the  top. 

It  is  estimated  that  imder  average  circumstances  in  a  sea 
fight  under  modern  conditions  one-third  of  the  officers  and 


120  BIG    aUNi^. 

men  will  be  killed  and  wounded  on  a  warship  during  the  first 
fifteen  minutes  of  the  action. 

Machine  guns  of  the  Catling  type  are  usually  placed  in  the 
military  tops.  They  are  bundles  of  rifle  barrels,  into  which 
cartridges  are  fed  through  a  hopper.  They  discharge  a  con- 
tinuous stream  of  ordinary  rifle  bullets  at  the  rate  of  about 
700  a  minute.  The  purpose  of  the  machine  gun  is  not  to 
damage  a  ship,  but  to  kill  ofi  exposed  men. 

Doubtless  there  is  no  position  on  board  of  a  modern  fight- 
ing ship  so  dangerous  as  that  of  the  men  who  operate  these 
guns  in  military  tops,  inasmuch  as  they  are  comparatively 
exposed  and  sure  to  be  a  target  for  the  rapid-fire  guns  of  the 
enemy.  In  the  present  war  with  Spain  the  Americans  pos- 
sess an  enormous  advantage  in  their  superiority  of  marks- 
manship, and,  in  the  opinion  of  experts,  where  vessels  of 
equal  power  are  opposed,  the  boilers  of  the  Spanish  ships  will 
be  quickly  blown  out  and  their  magazines  exploded  by  the 
concentrated  fire  of  the  great  guns  of  the  Americans. 

A  type  of  gun  that  is  wholly  an  experiment  and  as  yet 
untried  is  the  pneumatic  aerial  torpedo  thrower,  as  it  is  some- 
times called.  The  Vesuvius  carries  three  of  these  powerful 
weapons,  each  of  which  is  fifty-four  feet  long  and  of  15-inch 
calibers.  These  guns  throw  shells  containing  100  or  200  or 
500  pounds  of  nitro-gelatine,  and  they  have  an  accurate  range 
of  two  miles.  One  of  these  projectiles  is  surely  fatal  to  :i 
ship  if  it  strikes  whhin  thirty  feet  of  the  vessel,  or  even  fifty 
feet  in  the  air  above  it. 


I'AY    OF    ARMl     AM)    NAVY.  123 


CHAPTER    XII. 

PAY   OF   ARMY   AND   NAVY. 

HOW   THE    GOVERNMENT    REMUNERATES   THOSE   WHO    FIGHT   ITS 
BATTLES    ON    LAND    AND    SEA. 

The  Hull  bill,  recently  enacted  into  law  by  Congress,  will 
increase  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States  on  a  war  foot- 
ing to  61,000  men,  of  all  branches  of  the  service.  With  the 
125,000  volunteers  for  whom  the  President  has  called,  and 
the  13,000  additional,  who  will  constitute  "special  commands," 
as  provided  in  the  bill  to  be  reported  this  week,  the  govern- 
ment will  have  199,000  well-equipped  soldiers  for  the  war  with 
Spain. 

Not  only  has  the  government  prepared  to  put  a  mighty 
army  in  the  field,  however,  but  it  has  also  enlisted  thousands 
of  men  for  the  navy.  To  maintain  the  land  and  naval  forces 
which  are  reciuired  against  even  so  weak  a  power  as  Spain 
involves  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums  of  money.  One  of  the 
most  important  items  will  be  the  pay  of  the  army  and  navy. 
Those  who  contemplate  enlistment  with  the  volunteers,  the 
land  and  naval  nilitia  who  will  be  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  and  those  who  will  ofifer  themselves  as 
recruits  for  the  regular  army  will  be  interested  in  knowing 
what  the  government  will  pay  them  for  fighting  its  battles. 
The  pay  of  the  regular  army  on  a  monthly  basis  is  as  follows: 

,„  PAY    OF    THE    ARMY. 

Second   lieutenant,   not    mounted $11667 

5  years'   service 128  33 

10  years'   service 140  00 

15  years'   service 151  67 

20  years'    service 163  33 


124  FAY    OF    ARMY    AND    NAVY, 

Second  lieutenant,   mounted 12500 

First  lieutenant,  not  mounted 125  00 

Chaplain    125  00 

5  years'  service 137  50 

10  years'  service 150  00 

15  years'  service 162  50 

20  years'  service 175  00 

First  lieutenant,  mounted 133  2;^ 

5  years'  service 146  67 

10  years'  service 160  00 

15  years'  service 173  ^^ 

20  years'  service 186  67 

Captain,  not  mounted 150  00 

Regimental    adjutant 150  00 

Regimental  quartermaster 150  00 

5  years'  service 165  00 

10  years'  service 180  00 

15  years'  service 195  00 

20  years'  service 210  00 

Captain,    mounted 166  67 

5  years'  service 183  33 

10  years'  service 200  00 

15  years'  service 216  67 

20  years'  service 233  ^t, 

Major   208  33 

5  years'  service 229  1 7 

10  years'  service 250  00 

15  years'  service 270  83 

20  years'  service ...  291  67 

Lieutenant-colonel    250  00 

5  years'  service 275  00 

10  years'  service 300  00 

15  years'  service 325  00 

20  years'  service 333  33 


PAY    OF    ARMY    AND    NAVY.  125 

Colonel    291  67 

5  years'  service 320  83 

10  years'  service 350  00 

15  and  20  years'  service 375  00 

Brigadier-general    458  33 

Major-general    ; . .    625  00 

Lieutenant-general    ....    916  67 

General .1,125  00 

PRIVATES. 

Privates  in  the  artillery,  cavalry  and  infantry  receive  for  the 
first  two  years  after  enlistment  $13  a  month.  The  third  year 
they  receive  $14  a  month;  the  fourth  year  $15  a  month;  the 
fifth  year  $16  a  month.  The  re-enlisted  pay  is  $18  a  month 
after  five  years'  service,  $19  after  ten  years,  $20  after  fifteen 
years,  and  $21  after  twenty  years,  with  $1  per  month  addi- 
tional for  each  subsequent  period  of  five  years'  continuous 
service.  Privates  of  the  first-class,  engineers  and  ordnance, 
get  $17  a  month  for  the  first  two  years  of  enlistment,  with  pro- 
portionate increases  for  continued  service;  musicians  in  all 
branches  of  tlie  military  service  get  $13  a  month  on  enlist- 
ment, and  an  increase  after  the  second  year.  Blacksmiths  and 
farriers  in  the  cavalry  and  artificers  in  infantry  and  artillery 
enlist  at  $15  a  month  for  the  first  two  years,  and  this  is  also 
the  pay  of  corporals  in  cavalry,  artillery  and  infantry.  Cor- 
porals in  the  engineers  and  ordnance  get  $20  a  month,  with 
increases  up  to  $28  monthly  after  twenty  years'  service.  First 
sergeants  of  artillery,  infantry  and  cavalry  get  $25  a  month  for 
the  first  two  years;  sergeants  get  $18  a  month,  and  sergeants 
in  the  engineers,  ordnance  and  signal  corps  are  paid  $34  a 
month.  The  first  sergeant  of  the  signal  corps  gets  $45  a 
month. 

The  chief  trumpeter  of  a  cavalry  regiment  enlists  at  $22  a 
month;  the  principal  musician  in  artillery  and  infantry  is  paid 
the  same;  the  saddler  sergeant  of  a  cavalry  regiment  gets  $22 


126 


PAT    OF    ARMY    AXD    NAVY. 


tor  the  first  two  years;  the  chief  musician  in  artillery,  cavalry 
and  infantry  regiments  gets  $60  a  month.  Sergeant-majors 
and  quartermaster  sergeants  are  paid  $23  a  month;  sergeant- 
majors  and  quartermaster  sergeants  in  the  engineers  get  $36 
per  month.  The  pay  of  all  the  above  increase  proportionately 
after  the  second  year. 

The  pay  of  senior  veterinary  surgeons  is  $100  a  month;  of 
junior  veterinary  surgeons,  $75  a  month;  of  hospital  stewards, 
$45;  of  privates  in  the  hospital  corps,  $18;  of  hospital  matrons, 
$10  a  month. 

PAY   OF   NAVAL   OFFICERS. 


a 

y. 

PER   ANNUM.  '2 

< 

Rear- Admirals $6,000 

Commodores 5.000 

Captains 4.500 

Commanders 3. 500 

Lieutenant-Commanders  ; 

F"irst  four  years 2,800 

After  four  years 3.000 

Lieutenants : 

First  five  years 2,400 

After  five  years 2,600 

Lieutenants,  Junior  Grade : 

First  five  years • .  •  •   1,800 

A  ter  five  years  2,000 

Ensigns : 

First  five  years 1,200 

After  five  years i ,400 

Naval  Cadets* 500 

Mates t9oo 

Medical  and  pay  directors  and  medical 
and  pay  inspectors  and  chief  engi- 
neers   ' 4.400 


V 

•Si- 

=  ■5 

On  leave  c 
waiting 
orders. 

?i5.ooo 

|4,ooo 

4,000 

3,000 

3.500 

2,800 

3,000 

2,300 

2,400 

2,000 

2,600 

2,200 

2,000 

1,600 

2,200 

1,800 

1,500 

1,200 

1,700 

1,400 

1,000 

800 

1,200 

1,000 

500 

500 

t7oo 

tsoo 

PAY    OF    ARMY    AND    NAVY.  129 

Fleet  surgeons,   fleet  paymasters    and 

fleet  engineers 4>4oo  

Surgeons,  paymasters  and  chief  engi- 
neers : 

First  five  years 2,800  2,400  2,000 

Second  five  years 3,200  2,800  2,400 

Tiiird  five  years 3.500  3,200  2,600 

Fourth  five  years 3,700  3,600  2,800 

After  twenty  years 4,200  4,000  3,000 

Passed   assistant  surgeons    and  past 
assistant  paymasters : 

First  five  years 2,000      1,800       1,500 

After  five  years 2,200      2,000      1,700 

Passed  assistant  engineers : 

First  five  years 2,000  1,800  1,500 

Second  five  years 2,200  2,000  1,700 

Third  five  years 2,450  2,250  1,900 

Fourth  five  years 2,700  2,350  1,950 

Assistant  surgeons,  assistant  paymas- 
ters and  assistant  engineers : 

First  five  years 1,700      1,400      1,000 

After  five  years 1,900      1,600      1,200 

Boatswains,  gunners,  carpenters  and 
sailmakers : 

First  three  years 1,200  900  700 

Second  three  years 1,300  1,000  800 

Third  three  years... 1,400  1,300  900 

Fourth  three  years 1,600  1,300  1,000 

After  twelve  years 1,800  1,600  1,200 

*  After  leaving  Academy,  at  sea,  in  other  than  practice 
ships,  I950  per  annum. 

f  Mates  who  were  in  the  service  August  i,  1894,  are  entitled 
to  receive  annual  pay  at  the  rates  following  :  At  sea,  $1,200; 
on  shore  duty,  $900 ;  on  leave  or  waiting  orders,  I700. 


130         PAY    OF    ARMY    A\D    NAVY. 

PETTY    OFFICERS. 

The  monthly  pay  of  chief  masters-at-arms  is  $65;  of  chief 
boatswains"  mates,  chief  gunners'  mates,  chief  gun  captains 
and  chief  quartermasters,  $50;  of  chief  machinists  $70,  and 
chief  carpenters'  mates,  $50;  of  chief  yeomen  $60,  of  apothe- 
caries $60,  and  of  bandmasters  $52;  of  masters-at-arms,  boat- 
swains' mates,  gunners'  mates,  gun  captains  and  quartermas- 
ters of  the  first  class,  and  schoohnasters,  $40;  machinists  of  the 
first  class,  $55;  boilermakers,  $60;  coppersmiths  and  black- 
smiths, $50;  plumbers  and  fitters,  $45;  sailmakers'  mates,  car- 
penters' mates,  first  class,  and  water  tenders,  $40;  first  musi- 
cians, $36;  yeomen,  first  class,  $40;  masters-at-arms,  boat- 
swains' mates,  gunners'  mates,  gun  captain  and  quartermas- 
ters, of  the  second  class,  $35;  machinists,  second  class,  $40; 
oilers,  ^37;  carpenters'  mates,  second  class,  printers  and  yeo- 
men, second  class,  $35;  masters-at-arms,  gunners'  mates,  quar- 
termasters, carpenters'  mates  and  yeomen  of  the  third  class, 
$30;  coxswains  and  painters,  $30;  seamen  gunners,  $26.  Sea- 
men, first  class,  $24;  apprentices,  first  class,  $21;  firemen,  first 
class,  $35;  musicians,  first  class,  ^32:  seamen,  second  class,  $19; 
apprentices,  second  class,  $15;  firemen,  second  class,  $30;  ship- 
wrights and  sftilmakers,  $25;  buglers  and  musicians  of  the  sec- 
ond class,  $30;  seamen  of  the  third  class — landsmen,  $16;  coal 
passers,  $22;  baymen,  $18;  apprentices,  third  class,  $9. 


MESSKOOM   SERVICE. 

Stewards  to  commanders-in-chief  and  commandants,  $45: 
cooks  for  same,  $40;  cabin  stewards,  $37'.  cabin  cooks,  $32: 
wardroom  stewards,  $37;  wardroom  cooks,  $32;  steerage  stew- 
ards, $25;  steerage  cooks,  $22;  warrant  officers'  stewards,  $24; 
warrant  ofificers'  cooks,  $20;  ship's  cooks,  first  class,  $35: 
second  class,  $30;  third  class,  $25;  fourth  class,  $20;  mess  at- 
tendants, $16. 


PAY    OF    ARMY    AND    NAVY.  131 

Any  person  who  has  received  an  honorable  discharge  after 
three  years"  service  and  re-enhsts  within  three  months  after 
discharge  for  three  years,  will  receive  an  increase  of  $i  a 
month  to  the  pay  prescribed  for  the  rating  in  which  he  serves 
for  each  consecutive  enlistment. 


132  THE  AL'll"  AXU   THE  (JED  NAVY. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE     NEW     AND     THE     OLD     XAVY. 

WILLIAM  C.  WHITNEY  AND  CAPTAIN  MAHAN  GIVEN  THE  CREDIT 
FOR  THE  WONDERFUL  IMPROVEMENT  IN  OUR  FIGHTINC 
SHIPS — TRAINING  OF  OUR  NAVAL  OFFICERS  AND  THEIK 
DUTIES    ABOARD    SHIP. 

The  American  navy  is  making  history.  It  has  placed  the 
United  States  among  the  powers,  and  all  Europe  is  wonder- 
ing at  the  completeness  and  effectiveness  of  its  work. 

To  the  vast  majority  of  Atnericans  the  navy  was  little 
thought  of  prior  to  this  war.  Confident  in  the  great  resources 
of  the  States,  and  never  considering  the  possibility  of  a  for- 
eign conflict.  Congressmen  from  the  interior  fought  appro- 
priations for  ships  and  men  to  form  a  marine  fighting  force. 
believing  such  money  would  be  uselessly  expended.  But  in 
spite  of  this  opposition  and  the  lack  of  interest  shown  by  many 
citizens  of  the  republic,  the  United  States  fleet  of  warships  ha'^ 
slowly  grown,  until  now  it  is  more  than  able  to  cope  with  the 
European  power  it  has  been  necessary  to  meet  in  conflict. 

The  main  credit  U>v  this  is  due  two  men — William  C.  Whit 
ney  and  Captain  Mahan.  The  former  sowed  the  seed  that 
brought  forth  the  navy  of  t<iday.  he  was  the  father  of  th- 
white  squadron,  which  in  turn  is  the  mother  of  the  fleet  that 
must  bear  the  brunt  of  the  battles  in  the  present  crisis.  It 
must  have  been  gratifying  to  him  when  the  news  of  the  battle 


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at  Miinila  was  received  to  read  as  being  in  the  thick  of  the 
fight  the  Baltimore,  Boston,  Raleigh,  Bennington — all  ships 
that  he  had  planned,  and  whose  lines  were  laid  under  his 
direction. 

Captain  Alahan's  influence  was  with  his  pen.  He  raised  a 
standard  for  the  personnel,  and  showed  the  future  that  was 
in  store. 

It  was  but  twenty  years  ago  that  the  old  wooden  ship  Pensa- 
cola  was  the  strongest  vessel  in  our  navy.  She  had  beautiful 
lines  and  looked  a  picture  under  canvas,  but  as  for  a  fighting 
machine  she  was  worse  than  useless.  She  steamed  into  the 
harbor  of  Calao,  Peru,  one  day  and  the  Americans  who  saw 
her  were  ashamed  that  their  government  should  have  such  a 
representative  abroad,  and  so,  no  doubt,  was  her  commander. 
Capt.  George  Brown,  now  a  Rear  Admiral,  retired.  Lying  in 
this  bay  was  Her  Majesty's  ship  Triumph,  with  sides  of  steel 
ten  inches  thick;  at  another  anchorage  was  the  German  iron- 
clad Hanse,  equally  as  powerful;  the  Peruvian  and  Chilian 
armored  vessels  were  also  near.  And  the  man-of-w-ar  that 
bore  the  stars  and  stripes  was  a  wooden  vessel  that  could  pro- 
ceed faster  under  sail  than  under  steam. 

Had  the  war  with  Spain-  been  declared  at  that  date  defeat 
after  defeat  would  have  come  to  this  country  for  years  and 
years;  in  fact,  until  a  navy  could  be  built. 

Even  after  some  of  our  new  ships  had  been  launched  little 
Chili  was  in  a  position  to  insult  us  without  much  fear  of  the 
consequences. 

Now  all  is  different,  and  when  next  spring  that  excellent 
work  on  the  navies  of  the  world— Lord  Brassey's  "Naval 
Annual"— appears,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  United  States  is  the 
fourth,  if  not  the  third,  naval  power  in  the  world. 

There  has  been  much   said  in   the  public   prints  about   th 
army  not  being  ready   for   this   emergency,   buc   never  has  a 
word  of  similar  criticism  appeared  concerning  the  navy.   Ships, 
men  and  guns  have  been  in  a  position  for  efifective  work  since 
the    day    Spain    tendered    J^Iinister    Woodford   his    passports. 


130  THE  SFAV  AM)   THE  OED  NAVY. 

Dewey,  far  off  in  the  Pacific,  was  as  ready  to  give  battle  as 
though  he  had  just  left  a  home  port,  although  when  his  ships 
left  the  Pacific  coast  of  America  no  one  had  a  thought  but 
they  were  going  on  a  cruise  as  peaceful  as  the  thousands  of 
cruises  taken  by  ships  bearing  Old  Glory  in  foreign  waters 
since  the  war  of  1812.  It  has  always  been  the  policy  of  the 
American  navy  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency,  and  to  that 
policy,  as  much  as  to  anything,  is  due  th»  splendid  victory  in 
Manila  bay. 

It  is  generally  recognized,  even  by  foreigners,  that  the  offi- 
cers of  the  American  navy  are  a  superior  class  of  men  to  those 
of  any  other  nation.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  no  favoritism, 
no  influence,  can  be  brought  to  bear  to  secure  anyone  a  place 
on  board  an  American  warship.  Every  officer  is  practically 
born  into  the  service,  going  into  the  navy  at  such  an  age  that 
even  his  opinions  can  be  molded  by  those  in  authority  over 
him.  The  exclusiveness  of  the  sea  arm  of  the  service  has 
often  been  criticised,  and  an  effort  has  been  made  to  allow  the 
commissions  to  issue  to  men  who  have  not  been  through 
Annapolis,  but  who  can  pass  required  examinations.  But  the 
bars  have  never  been  let  down  since  the  civil  war,  as  they 
have  been  in  the  army,  and  all  the  men  who  direct  affairs  on 
the  United  States  vessels  are  graduates  of  that  world-famous 
naval  academy,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  high  in  rank,  who 
showed  their  merit  during  the  struggle  between  North  and 
South. 

Four  years  at  Annapolis,  followed  by  two  years  at  sea  as  a 
naval  cadet,  such  is  the  apprenticeship  that  each  young  man 
must  serve  before  he  can  hold  even  the  slightest  responsible 
position  on  Ijoard  an  American  man-of-war.  The  many  exam- 
inations that  are  compulsory  during  the  period  result  in  the 
weeding  out  of  those  who  would  prove  a  detriment  to  the  ser- 
vice, and  it  is  truly  a  survival  of  the  very  fittest. 

The  majority  of  Congressmen  have  established  the  rule  that 
appointees  to  Annapolis  must  pass  competitive  examinations. 
so  that  tlie  Iml   who  is  selected  to  go  to  the   naval   school   is 


THE  SKW  AM)    THE  OIJ>  XAVY.  ^'^>~ 

usually  the  one  most  fit  to  represent  the  district  of  his  State. 
After  six  months  there  is  a  rigid  mental  examination  at  the 
academy,  and  before  that  there  is  one  of  a  physical  nature. 
Then  each  year,  tests  of  even  greater  severity  are  applied,  and 
the  test  made  after  the  candidate  for  a  berth  for  naval  othccr 
has  served  his  two  years'  term  as  a  naval  cadet  is  the  severest 

of  all. 

Just  what  each  officer  is  expected  to  do  while  on  board  ship 

is  told  below :  i     i  ■ 

Rear-Admiral— Commands  a  squadron,  and  through  his 
flag  lieutenant  directs  the  movements  of  the  ships  in  the  fleet. 
He  never  interferes  with  the  direct  working  of  the  ship  he  is 
on  He  will  order  such  ship  to  steam  a  certain  course  or  to 
commence  action,  just  as  he  orders  by  signals  other  vessels  of 
the  squadron,  but  the  matter  of  how  it  shall  be  done  is  left  to 
the  captain.  A  rear-admiral  has  as  aids  a  flag  lieutenant  and 
a  secretary.  Each  of  them  are  officers  of  the  navy,  usually 
ranking  as  lieutenants,  and  are  chosen  by  the  rear-admiral. 

Commodore-Commands  a  fleet,  as  does  a  rear-admiral. 
Such  fleet,  however,  is  smaller  in  size.  His  aids  are  the  same 
as  a  rear-admiral's. 

Captain-Commands  the  larger  vessels  of  the  navy,  such  as 
the  battleships,  the  monitors  and  the  large  cruisers.  He  is 
supreme  on  board  his  vessel. 

Commander-Commands  ships  of  the  second  rate,  such  a,. 

unprotected  cruisers  and  other  craft. 

Lieutenant  Commander-Is  either  the  executive  officer  under 
n  captain  or  commander,  or  is  placed  m  command  of  a  still 
smaller  craft  In  the  former  case  he  is  the  captain  when  the 
commanding  oflicer  is  on  shore.  While  in  action  or  during 
a  storm  the  captain  issues  all  his  orders  through  his  execu- 
tive, who  stands  by  his  side,  speaking-trumpet  in  hand.  The 
executive  is  responsible  for  the  appearance  of  the  ship.  He  is 
the  one  who  orders  the  painting  and  sees  that  ii  is  done  cor- 
rectly. He  inspects  the  various  properties  on  board  and  orders 
such  supplies  as  are  needed. 


138  THE  XFAV  AXD   THE  OLD  SAW. 

Lieutenant — He  may  be  in  one  of  the  four  positions — execu- 
tive officer,  navigator,  senior  watch  and  division  oflicer,  or 
even  a  commanding  officer.  When  an  executive  officer,  his 
superior  is  generally  a  commander.  When  a  navigator  he  is 
second  in  rank  to  the  executive  officer,  and  enjoys  one  of  the 
pleasantest  billets  in  the  navy.  The  navigator  on  ship  while 
at  sea,  and,  for  that  matter,  while  in  port,  is  relieved  from  all 
duty  save  that  which  the  name  implies.  In  his  office  are  kept 
the  charts  and  the  sextants,  the  ship's  chronometer  and  cor- 
rected compass.  He  takes  sights  at  noon,  at  4  o'clock  and 
maybe  at  night,  and  he  traces  on  the  chart  the  ship's  course. 
He  keeps  the  log  (which  is  a  history  of  the  voyage),  and  that 
is  all  he  is  required  to  do.  When  approaching  a  coast  he 
remains  on  the  bridge  and  directs  the  course.  When  the  ship 
is  in  action  he  is  again  to  be  found  on  the  bridge.  He  must 
know  every  shoal,  every  reef  and  every  buoy,  and  be  able  to 
thread  any  waters  in  any  part  of  the  world.  The  phrase 
"senior  watch  and  division  officer"  means  that  he  is  the  rank- 
ing officer  (providing  he  is  not  executive  officer  or  navigator) 
of  those  who  stand  watch  on  the  bridge  while  the  ship  is  at 
sea,  or  on  deck  while  in  port,  and  also  he  has  command  in 
action  of  the  largest  gun  or  the  heaviest  battery. 

Lieutenant,  Junior  Grade — On  ships  wliere  the  captain  is  a 
lieutenant  commander,  lieutenants  of  the  junior  grade  may  be 
found  occupying  the  positions  of  executive  or  navigator,  but 
on  the  larger  vessels  the  junior  lieutenants  are  watch  and 
division  officers  merely. 

Ensigns — They  are,  as  a  general  rule,  watch  and  division 
officers,  although  on  the  very  small  ships  they  occasionally 
occupy  higher  positions.  In  the  case  of  the  capture  of  prizes 
during  war  an  ensign  is  usually  put  on  board  to  take  the 
vessel  into  port,  and  in  such  case  he  becomes  a  captain  for  the 
time  being.  That  reminds  the  writer  that  the  first  prize  of  the 
war  was  brought  into  Key  West  by  Ensign  William  Carey 
Cole,  who  is  one  of  the  officers  in  the  navy  hailing  from  Chi- 
cago.    Ensign  Cole  was  detailed  to  the  Buena  Ventura  from 


THE   \FAV  A\n    THE   OLD   XAYY.  141 

the  Dolphin,  and  took  her  to  Key  West,  where  she  was  turned 
over  to  the  United  States  Marshal. 

The  above  applies  to  officers  of  the  line,  and  below  are  given 
briefly  the  duties  of  the  officers  of  the  staflf: 

Chief  Engineer — Has  control  of  all  the  machinery,  that 
which  propels  the  ship  and  that  which  controls  turrets  and 
conning  tower.  He  is  responsible  to  the  captain  alone,  and 
reports  to  him.  He  keeps  statements  of  coal  purchases  and 
coal  burned,  also  of  oils  and  other  necessaries,  which  state- 
ments are  forwarded  to  Washington  at  stated  periods. 

Paymaster — Has  control  of  the  ship's  safe,  in  which  usually 
is  carried  a  large  sum  of  money  in  gold,  in  order  that  any 
emergency  may  be  met.  Has  to  pay  all  hands,  from  captain 
down  to  messenger,  at  stated  intervals,  and  see  that  all  bills 
contracted  by  the  ship  and  persons  on  board  are  paid  before 
the  vessel  leaves  a  port.  His  books  are  quite  complicated, 
and  there  is  a  system  of  reports  to  the  department  equally  so, 
and  his  two  assistants  are  kept  busy. 

Surgeon — Chief  of  the  hospital  stafT.  Oversees  the  sick  call 
every  morning,  and  must  always  be  ready  to  respond  to  a 
summons. 

Captain  or  Lieutenant  of  Marines — The  marines  are  the 
police  of  a  ship.  They  are  uniformed  like  soldiers  and  are 
armed  with  rifle  and  bayonet.  In  port  they  stand  guard  at  the 
gangways  to  see  that  objectionable  characters  do  not  come  on 
board,  and  to  arrest  any  sailor  who  may  return  from  leave 
under  the  influence  of  liquor.  It  is  this  latter  duty  that  has 
caused  the  bitterness  between  the  marines  and  the  sailors  that 
dates  back  for  a  century.  At  sea  the  marines  are  drilled  for 
an  hour  every  morning,  but  the  life  they  lead  is  a  lazy  one,  on 
the  whole,  unless  they  happen  to  be  assigned  to  a  ship  whose 
captain  is  a  martinet,  and  in  such  case  they  frequently  are  made 
to  scrub  decks,  haul  the  lead  line  in  board  and  perhaps  do 
menial  work.  The  officer  in  command  of  the  marines  is  a 
graduate  of  Annapolis  who  has  elected  upon  graduation  to 
follow  this  branch  of  the  service.     He  has  no  other  duty  on 


142  THE  NEW  AND   THE  OLD  XAVT. 

board  than  to  look  after  his  men  and  see  that  they  are  prop 
erly  drilled. 

A  transformation  comes  over  a  man-of-war  the  inoment  her 
anchor  is  at  the  peak.  Even  the  technical  tertns  by  which 
some  of  the  officers  are  called  change  when  the  ship  leaves 
port.  For  instance,  while  a  war  vessel  is  in  harbor  the  officers 
who  stand  watch  are  termed  "officers  of  the  deck,"  but  when 
under  way  they  become  "watch  officers."  , 

The  officer  of  the  deck  is  on  duty  for  a  day  or  two  at  a  time, 
depending  upon  the  regulations  of  the  ship  he  is  on.  But  his 
duty  is  of  a  lax  nature  and  he  can  pass  most  of  the  time  in  the 
ward  room  if  he  wishes.  His  principal  duty  consists  in  order- 
ing the  different  boats  called  away  and  in  receiving  visitors. 
but  as  a  marine  stationed  at  the  gangway  sends  him  word 
when  visitors  are  approaching  from  shore  he  does  not  have 
to  stand  around  and  wait  for  their  advent. 

Every  officer  on  board  except  the  captain  must  report  to 
the  officer  of  the  deck  before  going  on  shore  and  again  when 
he  returns  to  the  ship.  The  formula  in  the  first  instance  is, 
"Permission  to  go  on  shore,  sir?"  and  in  the  latter.  "Comu 
on  board,  sir." 

The  permission  to  leave  is  never  refused,  and  is  always  ac- 
knowledged by  a  salute  with  the  hand,  as  is  the  accosting  re- 
mark when  the  officer  returns. 

At  sea  the  watch  officers  are  on  duty  for  four  hours  at  ;i 
lime.  During  such  watch  the  officer  is  responsible  only  to 
the  captain  and  is  in  charge  of  the  ship. 

When  a  man-of-war  is  in  port — be  she  a  flagship — the  ad- 
miral or  commodore  usually  takes  up  a  residence  on  shore. 
The  principal  reason  is  that  there  is  nothing  lor  him  to  do  on 
lioard.  lie  has  no  concern  with  the  workings  of  the  ship  to 
which  he  is  attached,  and  the  fleet  lieing  at  anchor  needs  no 
directing.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  applies  only  to 
times  of  peace,  however.  The  captain  seldom  leaves  his  ship 
for  all  night,  though  he  passes  much  of  the  day  on  shore.  The 
executive  officer  has  to  suit  his  convenience  to  that  of  the  cai) 


THE  yEW  A^'D   THE  OLD  yAYY.  143 

tain,  for  they  must  not  be  away  from  the  ship  at  the  same  time. 
As  for  the  other  officers,  they  may  go  ashore  whenever  they 
wish,  and  remain  away  night  after  night  should  they  desire, 
iiroviding  they  are  on  hand  when  it  becomes  their  turn  to  serve 
Ls  officer  of  the  deck,  and  providing,  also,  that  they  report 
:very  morning  at  9.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  at  such  pleasant 
stations  as  Nagasaki.  Honolulu  and  Nice  for  certain  officers 
to  secure  rooms  on  shore  and  pass  most  of  the  time  there. 
The  only  hour  they  must  report  is  for  quarters  at  9  o'clock 
every  morning. 

THE    CHESAPE.\KE— .\    SPLENDID    SAILING    SHIP    BUILDING     FOR 
THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVAL    CADETS. 

A  valuable  addition  to  the  new  navy  will  be  the  large  steel 
practice  ship  now  in  process  of  construction  in  the  yard  of 
the  Bath  Iron  Works,  at  Bath,  Me.  This  new  vessel,  for  the 
building  of  which  Congress  originally  appropriated  $125,000 
and  for  whose  completion,  including  armament.  $300,000  will 
be  available,  will  be  known  as  the  Chesapeake.  She  is  in- 
tended for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  cadets  at  the  Naval  Acad- 
emy at  Annapolis,  and  will  be  one  of  the  largest  and  by  all 
odds  the  finest  sailing  practice  ship  in  the  world.  She  will  be 
remarkable  for  her  great  sail-carrying  power,  the  area  of  her 
principal  sails  being  13.131  square  feet  and  her  total  area 
19,975  square  feet.  She  will  also  have  the  distinction  of  being 
the  only  single  topsail  ship  afloat. 

The  day  of  sailing  warships  is  past,  but  Uncle  Sam  still 
holds  to  the  theory  that  the  education  of  a  navigator  or  com- 
manding officer  in  the  navy  is  not  complete  unless  he  thor- 
oughly understands  the  handling  of  a  sailing  ship.  And  he 
must  be  not  merely  theoretically  competent,  but  practically  so. 
This  applies  to  the  ordinary  seaman,  as  well  as  to  the  officer, 
and  schoolships  for  apprentices,  propelled  by  sail  power,  are 
an  important  part  of  the  United  States  Navy.     Some  one  has 


144  THE  M:\V  AM)    Till:  OLD  iYAFY. 

said  that  it  only  requires  months  to  make  a  good  soldier,  but 
years  to  make  a  good  sailor,  and  every  American  and  English 
admiral  will  tell  you  that  the  best  officers  and  seamen  in  the 
navy  are  men  whose  nautical  training  began  on  board  a  sail- 
ing ship.  Uncle  Sam  believes  this  thoroughly,  and  has  seen 
it  proven  many  times  by  experience.  He  now  emphasizes  this 
belief  by  building  the  Chesapeake.  On  board  of  this  vessel, 
and  otliers  like  her.  the  Deweys.  Sampsons  and  Schleys  of  the 
future  will  receive  the  foundation  and  the  most  important 
practical  part  of  their  professional  education. 

The  Chesapeake  is  being  built  of  steel,  her  bottom  sheathed 
with  four-inch  pine  and  coppered.  Her  stern  and  stern  posts 
are  of  manganese  bronze.  The  following  are  her  genenil 
dimensions:  Length  of  hull,  224  feet  9  inches;  length  over  all, 
inclusive  of  jib  and  spanker  booms,  275  feet;  beam,  extreme, 
^y  feet;  mean  draught,  16  feet  6  inches;  depth,  zy  feet  7^ 
inches;  displacement,  1174  tons.  She  has  a  wood  keel  25  inches 
deep  and  16  inches  wide,  and  great  deadrise.  The  vessel  is 
ship  rigged,  and,  as  already  said,  will  carry  very  close  to  20,000 
feet  of  sail.  Her  total  heights  from  the  bottom  of  the  keel  to 
the  top  of  the  main  truck  is  158  feet  six  inches,  and  the  main 
lower  yard  is  78  feet  long.  It  is  proposed  to  make  the  lower 
masts  and  yards  of  steel,  the  remainder  of  the  spars  being  of 
spruce  and  yellow  pine. 

Accommodations  will  be  provided  on  the  Chesapeake  for  the 
captain,  ten  ward-room  officers,  two  warrant  officers,  180 
cadets  and  a  crew  of  ninety  men.  In  armament  the  vessel  will 
be  up  to  date,  her  battery  consisting  of  six  4-inch  rapid-fire 
breech-lo.ading  rifles  on  the  gun  deck  and  four  6-pounders  and 
two  i-poundcr  rapid-fire  guns  on  the  spar  deck.  With  boats 
she  will  be  well  supplied,  having  a  30-foot  steam  cutter,  30- 
foot  launch,  two  28-foot  cutters,  one  28-foot  whaleboat,  one 
28-foot  whaleboat  gig  and  one  20-f<)()t  dingy.  Steam  for  the 
windlass,  pumps,  distilling  apparatus,  refrigerating  plant, 
dynamos  and  for  heating  purposes  will  be  supplied  by  two 
Scotch  boilers  of  ample  size.     Her  water  tanks  will  have  a 


1— I 


THi:  \i:\\  A\n  the  oi.n  \.\\y.  147 

capacity  of  fifty-five  tons.  There  will  be  no  steam  propelling 
machinery,  not  even  auxiliary.  With  three  complete  decks, 
built  of  the  heaviest  picked  material,  the  Chesapeake  will 
undoubtedly  be  a  strong,  seaworthy  and  durable  vessel,  splen- 
didly fitted  for  the  uses  to  which  she  will  be  put. 


148  .S'LC/t/A'-S'^'/OA'^'  FUR  HARBOR  DEFENCE. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
MAXIM'S  SUGGESTIONS  FOli  HARBOR  DEFENCE. 

Till-;    CUEAT    IiW'ENTOR    HAS    SOME    ORIGINAL    NOTIONS — NOVEL 
CRAFT    DESIGNED    BY     HIM. 

Hiram  S.  Maxim,  the  inventor  of  the  deadly  automatic  rapid- 
lire  gun,  has  offered  his  services  to  the  government,  and,  as 
,in  ordnance  expert  of  estabHshed  abihty,  he  could,  no  doubt, 
be  of  material  aid  in  case  of  trouble. 

Mr.  Maxim  has  some  original  notions  on  the  subject  of 
harbor  defence,  and  what  he  has  to  say  should  be  given  the 
weight  his  accomplishments  warrant.  In  his  own  words,  he 
says: 

"I  have  thought  a  great  deal  about  various  systems  for  de- 
fending our  great  cities  in  case  of  war  with  a  first-class  foreign 
nation,  and  I  think  I  could  give  my  countrymen  some  hints 
which  would  be  of  value,  especially  for  defending  towns  situ- 
ated some  distance  from  the  sea,  such  as  New  York,  Boston, 
Washington,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco  and  the  like.  I  pro- 
pose to  dig  several  deep  trenches  in  the  silt  of  the  river,  say 
eight  or  ten  feet  below  the  present  bay  or  river  bed;  it  would 
not  be  necessary  that  they  should  be  in  the  deepest  part  of  the 
channel,  but  in  a  i)lace  where  low  water  would  be  about  eight 
feet  deep.  In  each  of  these  trenches  I  would  place  a  large 
cast-iron  or  galvanized-iron  pipe,  say  about  twenty  inches  in 
diameter.  These  trenches  would  lead  inland  to  some  point 
safe  from  probable  bombardment  to  large  reservoirs  contain- 
ing several  million  liarrcis  of  light  petroleum,  generally  called 
naphtha.  After  the  pipes  have  been  put  in  position  they  could 
be  completely  covered  with  broken  stones,  gravel  or  earth, 
which  would  prevent  their  being  destroyed  by  torpedoes  or 
shells  if  they  should  frill  near  by  in  the  water.     The  pipes  when 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  HARBOR  DEFENCE.  149 

laid  would,  of  course,  be  full  of  water,  but  upon  the  approach 
of  a  hostile  fleet,  petroleum  could  be  allowed  to  enter  until  it 
had  driven  the  water  completely  out  and  have  shown  itself  in 
a  thin  film  on  the  surface.  Suppose  now  that  the  enemy's  fleet 
should  attempt  to  enter  the  harbor.  The  channel  which  will 
admit  of  the  passage  of  large  ships  is  not,  as  a  rule,  very  wide 
at  any  part.  When  the  fleet  reaches  the  proper  point  a  cock 
should  be  opened  and  about  looo  barrels  of  light  petroleum 
allowed  to  escape  and  rise  to  the  top  of  the  water.  Ships  of 
the  foe  would  then  be  instantly  enveloped  in  flames.  The 
crew  would  be  either  burned  to  death  or  suffocated  by  the 
heated  products  of  that  combustion.  If  the  ships  should  run 
through  that  zone  of  fire,  another  field  of  100,000  barrels  could 
be  liberated,  and  the  whole  fleet  wrapped  in  a  writhing  mass 
of  flames.  Not  only  would  this  prevent  the  passage  of  large 
vessels,  but  it  would  also  make  countermining  operations  by 
the  enemy  impossible.  The  necessary  dragging  for  the  cables 
to  our  mines  could  not  be  done  on  a  sea  of  fire.  When  the 
harbor  is  obstructed,  by  chains  or  booms,  small  boats,  pro- 
tected by  the  fire  from  larger  craft,  may  in  a  short  while  remove 
such  obstructions;  but  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  any  one 
to  approach  the  open  end  of  a  petroleum  pipe.  The  naphtha 
could  be  ignited  either  by  the  flash  of  the  enemy's  guns  acci- 
dentally or  purposely  by  some  suitable  explosive  shell  fired 
into  the  oil  field  at  will.  A  work  of  this  sort  would  not  cost 
more  than  two  ironclads,  and  the  advantage  would  be  that  it 
would  be  quite  as  effective  against  100  ironclads  as  against  one. 
Moreover,  this  scheme  could  be  put  into  operation  in  half  the 
time  that  it  would  take  to  build  a  battleship.  Assuming  that 
our  land  forces  were  sufficient  to  prevent  landing  parties,  it 
would  certainly  be  a  very  difficult  matter  to  put  such  an  appa- 
ratus out  of  action.'' 

Mr.  Maxim's  plan  is  not  altogether  novel,  two  Americans 
having  presented  a  system  upon  somewhat  similar  lines  to  the 
Chinese  during  their  recent  war  with  Japan.  By  some  official 
rascality  the  explosive  chemicals  were  destroyed  or  purposely 
spoiled,  and  the  practical  virtues,  if  one  may  use  the  term,  of 
this  method  of  wholesale  annihilation  were  left  for  the  future 


150  SUGGESTION.^  FOR  HARBOR  DEFENCE. 

to  prove.  A  revival  of  the  "auto  da  fe"  might  not  be  out  of 
place,  especially  when  considered  in  connection  with  all  that 
it  has  meant  in  Spanish  history. 

Mr.  Maxim  deems  the  battleship  but  a  compromise  upon 
the  strictly  defensive  craft.  He  says:  "She  must  be  built  so 
that  she  can  keep  the  sea  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  and  she  must 
be  able  to  carry  large  quantities  of  coal  and  to  accommodate  a 
numerous  crew.  Many  things  have  to  be  sacrificed  in  order 
to  meet  other  requirements  which  are  still  more  important; 
but  if  a  vessel  were  built  expressly  for  defensive  purposes  in 
comparatively  smooth  water,  its  fighting  power,  in  proportion 
to  its  cost,  could  be  made  greatly  superior  to  that  of  the  best 
man-of-war  of  today.  I  think  the  best  vessels  for  us  to  build 
for  defensive  purposes  would  be  of  about  2000  or  3000  tons 
burden.  It  should  be  possible  to  sink  them  so  low  in  the 
water  that  only  an  armored  turtle-back  would  appear  above 
the  surface  when  going  into  action.  At  other  times,  i.  e..  when 
cruising  from  port  to  port,  they  could  ride  much  higher  out 
of  the  water.  They  should  be  provided  with  very  powerful  en- 
gines operating  twin  screws,  and,  if  possible,  should  use  petro- 
leum for  fuel.  They  should  be  formed,  as  I  have  sketched,  so 
that  they  will  present  but  a  moderate  target  to  the  enemy,  with 
all  vital  parts  protected  by  the  deflective  surface  of  the  armored 
turtle-back.  Their  principal  armament  should  consist  of  a 
single  and  powerful  automatic  gun,  mounted  forward,  and 
arranged  in  such  a  manner  that,  upon  firing,  the  gun  should 
completely  disappear  and  the  port  through  which  it  fired  be 
automatically  closed."  In  the  sketch  a  sliding  shield  covers 
the  gun-port,  and,  in  recoiling,  the  gun  falls  back  and  down 
into  a  trough  or  groove  in  the  heavy  armor  of  the  curved 
deck  and  beyond  the  reach  of  shot. 

Mr.  Maxim  says  he  has  designed  a  system  by  which  the 
heaviest  gun  can  be  fired  from  four  to  six  times  a  minute;  and 
the  destructive  force  of  one  such  gun  as  compared  with  out 
own  slow-firing  great  guns  now  in  use  is  easily  imagined.  He 
argues  that  four  of  the  defensive  boats  such  as  he  suggests 
could  be  built  for  the  price  of  a  single  battleship,  and  in  half 


H 
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SUGGESTIONS  FOR  HARBOR  DEFENCE.  153 

the  time;  and  one  of  them  in  a  harbor  would  be  more  than  a 
match  for  the  best  battleship  afloat. 

"A  battleship  of  necessity  presents  an  immense  target  above 
the  water,  and  in  order  to  bring  all  her  guns  into  action  she 
must  present  her  broadside,  but  a  vessel  such  as  suggested 
would  go  into  action  head  on,  and  would  keep  head  on  during 
the  action.  By  firing  a  great  number  of  shots  in  a  short  time 
she  would  be  able  to  inflict  heavy  damage  with  very  little 
chance  of  injury  in  return." 

As  a  menace  to  the  unarmored  portions  of  a  foe  and  as  a  safe- 
guard against  torpedo-boat  attack,  Mr.  Maxim  would  supple- 
ment the  main  battery  of  one  great  gun  with  a  secondary  force 
of  a  dozen  i2-pounders  of  an  automatic,  quick-firing  type  of 
his  own. 

As  the  vessels  are  not  intended  for  distant  work,  but  always 
to  be  within  easy  touch  of  a  base  of  supply,  the  weight  other- 
wise given  to  large  quantities  of  coal  could,  in  the  case  of  these 
ships,  be  given  largely  to  the  engines.  In  the  semi-sub- 
merged or  fighting  condition  Mr.  Maxim  counts  upon  a  speed 
of  eighteen  knots,  and,  as  the  vessels  are  also  intended  to  ram, 
the  blow  from  a  moving  body  of  quite  3000  tons  traveling  at 
that  rate  would  prove  destructive  to  the  stoutest  craft  afloat 
today.  With  the  water  ballast  out  and  in  light  crusing  trim, 
he  expects  a  speed  of  something  in  the  neighborhood  of 
twenty-five  knots  an  hour. 

As  can  be  seen,  Mr.  Maxim's  idea  embodies  a  development 
of  our  ram,  the  Katahdin,  the  monitor  and  the  whaleback;  and 
there  is  every  reason  why  his  type  should  be  carefully  consid- 
ered in  the  evolution  of  the  coast  defence  vessels  carried  by 
the  present  naval  appropriation  bill. 

His  petroleum  defence,  however,  is  too  much  on  the  order 
of  "hot  stufif"  to  meet  with  the  approbation  of  those  men  ac- 
customed to  mete  out  an  enemy's  welcome  in  so  much  cold 
steel  and  lead. 


154  WAIT  FOR  THE  DOWNWARD   ROLL. 


CHAPTER    XV. 
WAIT    FOR    THE    DOWNWARD    ROLL. 

DIRECTIONS     FOR     FIRING     AT     SEA     EXPLAINED     BY     A     NAVAL 

OFFICER. 

Other  things  being  equal,  the  coming  contest,  Hke  all  other 
naval  contests,  will  be  won  by  marksmanship,  and  good 
marksmanship  has  been  a  distinctly  Yankee  quality  ever  since 
the  Revolution,  both  on  land  and  sea. 

It  was  the  salvation  of  the  American  cause  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  it  showed  itself  again  in  the  Mexican  War,  though 
then  there  was  no  sea  fighting.  There  was  as  good  shooting 
in  the  Civil  War,  too,  as  ever,  but  the  marksman  on  both  sides 
were  Americans,  and  its  effects  on  either  side  were  offset  by 
good  work  on  the  other.  In  my  judgment  the  trained  gun- 
ners now  in  our  navy  will  shoot  as  well  as  their  fathers  and 
grandfathers  did  before  them. 

The  American  practice  both  in  the  army  and  navy  has  al- 
ways been  to  shoot  low,  and  always  to  save  ammunition  until 
it  was  possible  to  use  it  effectively.  In  the  navy  the  tradition 
to  shoot  low  has  crystallized  into  a  standing  rule,  unwritten 
indeed,  but  none  the  less  religiously  observed,  and  its  wisdom 
has  been  proved  on  more  than  one  occasion  of  great  im- 
portance. 

The  precise  form  of  this  unwritten  naval  rule  is  to  "wait  for 
the  downward  roll."  This  is  the  converse  of  the  maxim  ob- 
taining in  the  British  navy  that  it  is  best  to  take  advantage  of 
the  "upward  roll,"  which  has  been  observed  almost  from  the 
beginning  of  naval  fighting  by  the  gunners  of  English  ships, 
and  to  which  much  of  the  power  of  England's  "wooden  walls" 
to  defend  the  island  was  attributed  in  the  days  when  England, 
and  not  the  United  States,  was  at  war  with  Spain. 


WAIT  FOR   THE   DOWNWARD   ROLL.  155 

BEST    TIME   TO    FIRE. 

Necessarily  the  deck  of  a  vessel  at  sea  offers  a  much  less 
satisfactory  platform  from  which  to  shoot  than  the  solid 
foundation  provided  in  a  land  fort,  since  even  when  the  ocean 
is  calmest,  the  vessel  must  constantly  roll  from  side  to  side. 
Theoretically,  the  best  time  to  fire  would  be  at  the  moment 
between  rolls,  when  the  deck  of  the  ship  is  perfectly  level,  and 
in  a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  an  attempt  is  made  to  do 
the  shooting  at  that  instant.  It  is  practically  impossible,  how- 
ever, to  fire  invariably  when  the  decks  are  horizontal.  No 
matter  how  careful  the  gunner,  the  piece  is  almost  always  ex- 
ploded just  before  or  just  after  the  proper  instant. 

It  was  noted  by  the  sea  fighters  in  the  Revolution  that  pro- 
jectiles from  guns  fired  when  the  ship  was  heeling  from  the 
enemy  in  the  upward  roll  was  hurled  higher  in  the  air  than 
was  intended,  and  that  well-aimed  shots  were  thus  often  sent 
harmlessly  overhead  or,  at  best,  took  effect  only  in  the  rigging 
instead  of  the  hull  of  the  enemy,  where  they  would  do  most 
damage.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  observed  that  shots  fired 
when  the  vessel  was  heeling  toward  the  enemy  on  the  down- 
ward roll,  though  frequently  striking  lower  than  was  intended 
by  the  marksman,  almost  invariably  took  efifect. 

AMERICAN   SUCCESS. 

This  was  rendered  the  more  certain  from  the  fact  that  the 
spherical  projectiles  then  in  use  would  ricochet  along  the  sur- 
face of  the  waves  if  they  struck  the  water,  exactly  as  a  stone 
will  skip  along  the  top  of  a  pond  when  properly  thrown  from 
the  hand  of  a  small  boy.  The  advantage  taken  of  this  fact  by 
the  Americans  in  the  war  of  1812,  who  "invariably  waited  for 
the  downward  roll,"  increased  the  effectiveness  of  their  gun- 
nery immensely,  while,  by  the  same  token,  the  British  rule  to 
fire  as  the  vessel  heels  from  its  opponent,  or  on  the  upward 
roll,  rendered  a  large  proportion  of  British  shots  quite  harm- 
less. The  British  notion  has  always  been  that  firing  on  the 
upward  roll,  when  the  heeled-over  side  of  the  vessel  afforded 


156  WAIT  FOR  THE  DOWNWARD   ROLL. 

the  broadest  mark,  had  a  tendency  to  protect  the  ship,  because 
the  smoke  of  the  discharge  would  hide  it  somewhat  from  the 
enemy's  sight,  but  Yankees  have  never  taken  much  stock  in 
that  contention, 

VALUE    OF   DOWNWARD    ROLL. 

The  great  value  of  a  downward  roll  rule  was  first  demon- 
strated in  the  fight  between  the  American  frigate  Constitution 
and  the  British  frigate  Guerriere  on  August  19,  1812.  Al- 
though the  American  ship  had  a  slight  advantage  in  size  and 
number  of  guns  and  men,  yet  after  the  vessels  drew  near 
enough  to  prevent  their  projectiles  falling  short,  nine-tenths 
of  all  the  shots  from  the  American  guns  took  deadly  efifect. 
while  not  more  than  half  of  those  from  the  British  pieces  did 
any  damage. 

The  number  of  killed  in  this  engagement  was  not  large  on 
either  side,  but  the  fight  was  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested 
in  all  naval  history.  It  lasted  only  forty  minutes,  and  at  its 
close  the  British  commander,  Dacres,  was  obliged  to  surren- 
der unconditionally  to  his  American  opponent,  Captain  Isaac 
Hull,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  guns  on  the  British  ships 
were  practically  all  disabled,  since  much  of  the  rigging  had 
been  shot  away  close  to  the  deck. 

Modern  cylindrical  projectiles  do  not  ricochet  along  the 
water  as  uniformly  as  did  the  old-time  spherical  cannon  balls. 
The  modern  projectile  proceeds  with  a  whirling  motion,  and 
this  sometimes  causes  it.  when  striking  the  water,  to  swerve 
to  the  right  or  left,  sometimes  to  jump  straight  up  in  the  air. 
and  sometimes  even  to  dive  straight  down  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  Yet,  it  is  the  opinion  of  two  or  three  naval  and  gun- 
nery experts  with  whom  the  writer  has  discussed  this  question 
that  the  rule  to  "wait  for  the  downward  roll"  will  be  main- 
tained in  the  war  with  Spain. 


n 

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CMQUE   TYPEH  OF  AMERICAS   WARSHIPS.       159 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

UNIQUE   TYPES   OF   AMERICAN   WARSHIPS. 

THE  MONITOR,  THE  RAM  AND  THE  DYNAMITE  CRUISER  ARE 
FOUND  ONLY  IN  OUR  NAVY — THREE  DANGEROUS  CRANKS — 
MONITOR  AND  RAM  HAVE  PROVED  THEIR  VALUE,  BUT  OTHER 
NATIONS  FIGHT  SHY  OF  THEM — WHAT  EACH  CAN  ACCOM- 
PLISH— THE  VESUVIUS  A  DOUBTFUL  WAR  FACTOR  AND  IS 
THE  ONLY  TYPE  OF  HER  CLASS. 

Fleets  of  ships  are  in  some  respects  like  communities  of 
people — there  are  in  them  good  ships,  just  as  there  are  in  com- 
munities good  people,  and  there  are  worthless  ones,  just  as 
there  are  blackguards.  Some  ships  are  always  in  luck,  always 
getting  soft  snaps;  others  are  continually  in  hot  water  and  in 
disgrace.  Some  are  dignified,  sensible,  as  it  were;  others  are 
slack  and  undisciplined.  Finally,  as  in  every  community, 
there  are  some  odd,  peculiar  chaps — good  fellows,  though — 
so  in  every  large  fleet  there  are  a  few  cranks,  or  freaks — ships 
different  from  other  ships,  yet  not  the  less  valuable  as  a  means 
of  fighting  on  that  account. 

Chief  among  these  crank  ships  in  our  navy  is  the  monitor, 
the  prototype  of  the  present  battleship.  Nearly  forty  years 
ago  Ericsson  offered  the  plans  of  the  first  monitor  to  the 
United  States  Government.  The  result  promised,  in  case  his 
design  was  adopted,  was  an  ironclad  vessel  of  small  dimen- 
sions capable  of  navigating  the  Southern  rivers  and  absolutely 
impregnable  against  the  ordnance  possessed  by  the  Southern 
States.  The  draught  of  water  was  limited  to  eleven  feet. 
Ericsson  further  undertook,  for  $275,000,  to  construct  her  in 
the  space  of  100  days.  He  kept  his  word.  The  main  features 
of  these  early  monitors  which  made  them  unique  were  the  same 
main  features  which  distinguish  the  four  new  monitors — Ter- 


160       UNIQUE   TYPES  OF  AMERICAN  WARSHIPS. 

ror.  Miantonomoh,  Puritan  and  Amphitrite — from  the  other 
ships  now  in  the  Atlantic  squadron.  These  pecuHar  characte-r- 
istics  of  the  type  may  be  thus  described: 

A  nearly  flat-bottomed  vessel  armored  on  the  sides  and  on 
the  deck,  which  is  almost  level  with  the  water.  Above  this 
deck  rise  one  or  two  revolving  turrets.  Inside  them  are  large 
caliber  guns.  The  monitors  were  a  success  from  every  point 
of  view.  All  the  world  admired  them  when  they  first  were  put 
afloat.  An  English  authority  thirty  years  ago  pronounced 
the  "monitor  vessel"  as  the  most  perfect  conception  to  his 
mind  of  what  a  country  ought  to  have  for  the  attack  and  de- 
fence of  ports  and  arsenals.  The  thirteen  ancient  ballahoos 
now  in  our  navy,  eight  of  which  have  been  hauled  out  of  the 
mud  near  League  Island  Navy  Yard,  Philadelphia,  are  the 
same  monitor  vessels  that  drew  forth  such  eulogiums  from  an 
English  government  official. 

THE    OLD    TIMERS. 

The  Ajax,  the  Canonicus,  the  Mahopac.  the  Manhattan  and 
the  Wyandotte  of  2100  tons  displacement  each,  and  the  Co- 
manche, the  Catskill,  the  Jason,  the  Lehigh,  the  Montauk.  the 
Nahant,  the  Nantucket  and  the  Passaic,  of  1875  tons  each,  are 
the  names  of  these  old  hookers.  The  only  one  of  the  original 
lot  missing  is  the  Saugus.  They  were  all  of  them  built  during 
the  war,  they  fought  in  it  most  of  them,  and  were  repaired  and 
improved  after  it.  These  thirteen  ships  of  which  we  are  tell- 
ing are  the  original  Ericsson  type  of  monitor,  built  of  iron, 
with  single  bottoms,  without  rams,  propelled  by  a  single 
screw,  and  at  present  armed  with  two  15-inch  smooth-bore 
cast-iron  guns  in  a  single  revolving  turret,  which  rotates 
around  a  central  shaft  on  which  is  mounted  the  pilot-house. 
The  protecting  armor  of  the  sides  is  five  inches  thick;  that  of 
the  turret  eleven  inches.  The  engines  are  of  the  simple  vibrat- 
ing lever  type,  and  the  speed  is  five  or  six  knots.  Such  vessels 
are  cranks:  they  are  oddities:  they  have  outlived  their  time; 
but  like  many  persons  similarly  situated  they  have  their  uses, 
and  with  a  little  toning  up  they  will  no  doubt  be  able  once 


UNIQUE  TYPES  OF  AMERICAX   WARSHIPS.       161 

again  to  put  up  a  fight  and  exhibit  some  of  their  old-time 
ability  to  give  and  take  hard  knocks. 

What  bettei  proof  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  these  ships 
of  the  ancient  regime  are  held  is  wanted  than  the  knowledge 
that  two  of  these  same  old  obsolete  war-time  monitors — the 
Nahant  and  the  Jason — are  to  be  stationed  in  New  York  har- 
bor, two  at  Boston  and  four  at  Philadelphia?  The  Nahant  has 
l)een  in  service  as  a  training  ship  for  the  North  Carolina  naval 
militia.  Others  which  have  been  devoted  to  the  same  purpose 
are  the  Ajax  at  Camden,  N.  J.,  the  Wyandotte  at  New  Haven, 
the  Passaic  in  Georgia  and  the  Comanche  in  California. 

Of  course,  these  "cheese  boxes,"  as  they  were  facetiously 
dubbed  "a  many  years  ago,"  will  need  some  patching,  a  new 
boiler  here  and  there  and  lining  up  of  some  of  the  machinery, 
then  they  will  be  all  right,  ready  to  respond  to  the  best  of 
their  ability  to  any  call  their  country  may  make  on  them. 

THE  MODERN   MONITOR. 

Despite  the  fine  record  of  the  monitor  as  a  fighter,  foreign 
navies  have  not  copied  the  type.  We  alone  stick  by  her.  In- 
deed there  are  many  officers  in  our  navy  today  who  hold  the 
opinion  that  she  is  the  best  of  all  types  not  only  for  coast- 
defence  purposes,  but  also  to  engage  a  battleship  in  the  open. 
These  extreme  views,  however,  are  held  concerning  the  newer 
ships  of  the  type,  the  big  6000-ton  Puritan,  with  four  12-inch 
rifles  in  her  two  turrets;  the  Monterey  of  4100  tons  and  four 
modern  guns,  and  the  Terror,  Amphitrite  and  Miantonomoh, 
of  4000  tons,  carrying  four  lo-inch  rifles.  These  modern  mon- 
itors have  modern  engines,  twin  screws,  good  armor  and  a 
speed  just  double  that  of  their  congeners.  People  may  sneer 
at  these  crank  ships,  but  give  them  a  chance  and  they  will 
again  show  the  stuff  that  is  in  them. 

Another  unique  craft  in  our  Atlantic  fleet  is  the  ram  Katah- 
din.  The  only  other  vessel  in  the  world  at  all  resembling  her 
is  the  English  torpedo  ram  Polyphemus,  a  larger  ship  and 
fitted  to  fire  torpedoes  from  under  water  tubes.     Our  ship  has 


162       VNIQVE  TYPEf^  OF  AMERICAN  WARfiHIPF!. 

no  other  armament  than  four  small  rapid-fire  guns  to  be  used 
against  boat  attack. 


THE   RAM    KATAHDIN. 

The  Katahdin  has  a  displacement  of  2155  tons  and  a  speed  of 
nearly  seventeen  knots.  She  could  strike  another  ship  with  a 
force  of  about  26,000  tons  per  square  foot.  A  13-inch  gun 
firing  a  projectile  of  1000  pounds  weight,  with  a  velocity  of 
2000  feet  a  second,  would  strike  an  armor  plate  with  about  the 
same  force.  But  the  injury  inflicted  by  the  ram  below  the 
water  line  would  be  incalculably  more  serious  than  could  be 
inflicted  by  the  shot;  the  hole  made  would  be  much  larger,  and 
the  inrush  of  water  would  undoubtedly  send  the  stricken  ship 
to  the  bottom. 

The  first  use  of  the  ram  as  a  weapon  pure  and  simple  in  our 
time  was  in  1862,  when  the  rebel  ram  Merrimac,  going  at  the 
rate  of  four  knots,  struck  the  Cumberland,  a  wooden  Union 
ship  lying  at  anchor.  Two  blows  were  struck,  one  direct,  one 
at  an  angle,  and  the  brave  Cumberland,  her  colors  flying,  with 
all  her  crew  on  board,  went  down.  Perhaps  the  tactical  value 
of  the  ram  per  se  was  better  illustrated  at  the  battle  of  Lissa 
in  1866.  There  were  in  this  engagement  seven  modern  Aus- 
trian ironclads  pitted  against  nine  Italian  armored  vessels  of 
later  design,  greater  speed  and  heavier  armor.  The  Austrian 
admiral  made  the  signal,  "Courir  sus  a  I'ennemi  pour  le 
couler."  In  obedience  thereto  the  Ferdinand  ]Mox,  going 
ahead  at  a  speed  of  eleven  knots,  struck  fair  and  square  the 
side  of  the  Italian  ship  Re  d'ltalia,  causing  her  to  keel  over 
under  the  influence  of  the  blow  until  her  spar  deck  was  awash; 
then,  as  she  righted,  the  Mox  backed  slowly  away.  "In  two 
"T  three  minutes  the  victim  plunged  heavily  down,  leaving 
nothing  to  tell  of  her  whereabouts  except  a  few  sliricking, 
struggling  remnants  of  her  ill-fated  crew  of  600  nuMi."  The 
Ferdinand  Afox  was  uninjured. 


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UNIQUE  TYPEti   OF  AMERICAN  WARSHIPS.       165 


THE   RAM    IN   ACTION. 


If  further  confirmation  of  the  power  of  the  ram  be  needed 
it  can  be  found  in  the  awful  catastrophes  which  have  occa- 
sionally  resulted   from  accidental   collision.     When  the   Iron 
Duke  struck  the  Vanguard  she  tore  a  hole  fifteen  feet  square 
in  the  Vanguard's  side,  sending  her  to  the  bottom  within  an 
hour.     Equally  fatal  was  the  ramming  of  the  Grosser   Kur- 
furst  by  the  Konig  Wilhelm,  when  the  former  sank  immedi- 
ately with  nearly  all  her  crew.     More  recent  still,  and  perhaps 
more  terrible,  was  the  loss  of  the  Victoria  when  the  Camper- 
down  rammed  her.     These  examples  of  warfare  and  accident 
prove  sufficiently  the  destructiveness  of  the  ram,  and  there  are 
able  tacticians  who  hold  that  as  a  means  of  ofifence  it  ranks 
first.     Undoubtedly,  if  the  gun  and  the  torpedo  fail  in  settling 
an  action  on  the  high  seas  between  two  ships  the  ram  will 
surely  end  the  contest,  but  whether  a  ship  built  exclusively  to 
launch  herself  against  an  enemy,  trusting  entirely  to  her  own 
momentum  to  inffict  a  death  blow,  is  sure  of  success  is  alto- 
gether problematical.     Indeed,  so  many  chances  are  against 
such  a  vessel  reaching  her  mark  that  no  other  nation  besides 
the  United  States  has  dared  to  take  the  risk.     Verily  such  a 
craft  sets  her  life  upon  a  single  cast  and  must  stand  the  hazard 
of  the  die. 

The  third  freak  among  our  collection  of  ships  of  the  Atlan- 
tic squadron  is  the  dynamite  cruiser  Vesuvius.  Fancy  what 
you  would  feel  if,  in  the  village  where  you  lived,  you  were  told 
there  was  a  dynamite  crank  knocking  about  loose.  You 
would  think,  very  properly,  that  such  a  crank  was  dangerous, 
was  addicted  to  blowing  up  people  and  things  with  dynamite, 
the  most  terrible  in  its  action  of  all  explosives,  and  you  would 
do  your  best  to  avoid  him.     Not  unlike  the  man  is  the  boat. 


THE   VESUVIUS. 


The  Vesuvius  is  a  narrow,  low  vessel,  264  feet  long  and  810 
tons  displacement.  At  the  time  of  her  trial,  six  or  eight  years 
ago,  she  made  a  speed  of  21.6  knots,  then  the  fastest  in  the 


166       UNIQUE  TYPEti   OF  AMERICAN  WARl^HIPS. 

world.  Her  armament  is  her  most  strikingly  peculiar  feature. 
It  consists  of  three  pneumatic  dynamite  guns  placed  side  by 
side,  inclined  at  an  angle  of  about  twenty  degrees,  in  the  bow 
of  the  ship.  Eight  or  ten  feet  of  the  muzzles  of  these  forty  feet 
long  guns  or  tubes  show  above  the  deck.  Each  one  of  them 
can  throw  a  shell  charged  with  200  pounds  of  high  explosives 
a  distance  of  a  mile — air  is  the  propellant,  not  powder.  Most 
naval  officers  in  our  service  as  well  as  elsewhere  have  always 
distrusted  this  craft,  and  not  without  some  reason.  One  ob- 
jection to  the  Vesuvius  is  that  her  guns  are  built  into  the  ship, 
so  they  can  only  be  trained  by  moving  the  vessel,  an  exceed- 
ingly difficult  thing  to  do  with  any  approach  to  accurate  point- 
ing. Another  is  that  the  guns  are  effective  only  within  the 
distance  of  a  mile,  and  to  get  within  this  range  the  Vesuvius, 
an  unprotected  vessel,  lightly  constructed,  would  be  at  the 
mercy  of  every  rapid-fire  gun  that  could  be  brought  to  bear. 
Still  another  objection  is  to  the  uncertainty  of  the  effective- 
ness of  the  aerial  torpedo  she  discharges;  in  one  set  of  trials 
of  the  guns  not  a  single  fuse  exploded  upon  contact.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  urged  with  much  force  by  the  admirers  of  the 
ship  that  a  skilful  commander  can  lay  the  vessel  so  that  her 
guns  will  be  pointed  as  accurately  as  any  other  large  guns,  and 
certainly  in  practice  some  remarkably  good  shots  have  been 
made;  also  that  she  is  as  much  protected  as  any  other  craft  of 
her  size  and  kind,  being,  in  fact,  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
an  enlarged  torpedo-boat.  Further,  it  is  held  that  if  only  one 
of  her  shots  should  explode  anywhere  near  her  enemy,  de- 
struction would  surely  follow. 

TTII-,    DYNAMITE   CRUISER's    USEFULNESS. 

It  is  difficult  in  the  face  of  the  evidence  to  decide  on  the 
merits  of  such  a  crank  as  the  Vesuvius.  Although  she  has 
been  in  the  navy  several  years  she  has  never  been  duplicated, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  there  was  an  appropriation  of 
money  made  to  build  a  second  one.  Nor  has  any  other  navy 
constructed   a   craft   at   all   like   her.     Our  government,   how- 


V^nQVE  TYPE^  OF  AMERICAN  WARt^HlPS. 


IfiT 


ever   ha.  not  lost  all  taith  m  the  Vesuvius.     She  is  now  benig 
put  into  perfect  condition,  preparatory  to  going  into  action. 

Our  three  crank  types-the   monitor,   the   ram.   the   Vesu- 
vius-are   coast    defenders;     perhaps     we    should     say     har- 
bor    defenders.       They     belong     to     the     inner     or     second 
line  of  defence,  where   the   torpedo-boats  belong.     Just  how 
stout  a   fight   any   one   of   them   could   put   up.   or   what   the 
chances  of  success  might  be  in  an  action  under  modern  condi- 
tions of  warfare,  it  is  difticult  to  conjecture,  not  one  of  them 
ever  having  been  put  to   the  test.     There  can  be   no   doubt. 
however,  that  they  will  exercise  a  great  moral  force.     No  sane 
commanding  officer  would  dare  boldly  approach  a  pomt  de- 
fended by  any  one  of  these  three  cranks.     Not  so  much  would 
he  hesitate  because  of  fear  of  an  engagement-he  would  like 
that  were  it  to  be  ship  against  ship-but  because  he  would  not 
know  what  to  expect  from  such  an  uncanny  antagonist,      ihe 
mere  cry   "Torpedoes  ahead."  made  Admiral  Farragut's  entire 
fleet  tremble  with  fear.     There  are  very  few  men  who  have  in 
them  the  heart  to  damn  the  weapon  and  go  ahead.     Most  men. 
afraid  of  nothing  else,  fight  shy  of  cranks.     They  do  so  on 
shore,  and  perhaps  they  would  do  so  at  sea. 


168  EARTHEN    TRENCHES. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

EARTHEN  TRENCHES. 

THEY  WILL  CUT  CONSIDERABLE  FIGURE  IN  FUTURE  BATTLES — 
HOW  THEY  HAVE  BEEN  EMPLOYED  IN  ALL  AGES — QUICK 
WORK  FOR  AN  ARMY  IN  PUTTING  UP  DEFENCES  IN  THE 
OPEN. 

Wars  have  been  waged  by  the  nations  of  the  earth  from  the 
earHest  times,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that,  so  long  as  the  nature 
of  man  remains  what  it  is,  wars  will  continue  to  occur,  more 
or  less  frequently,  until  the  end  of  time. 

Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  have  nations  in  general 
been  so  fully  armed,  equipped  and  trained  for  the  destruction 
of  each  other,  or  their  own  protection.  As  death-dealing 
weapons  have  from  century  to  century  been  perfected  and  new 
ones  invented,  attempts  have  been  made  to  keep  pace  with  this 
by  some  form  of  bodily  protection  for  the  soldier. 

In  ancient  and  mediaeval  times,  when  the  sword,  spear  and 
arrow  were  the  weapons,  considerable  protection  was  afforded 
by  body  armor.  Among  the  less  civilized  nations  this  was 
strong,  fibrous  matting  or  tough  hides,  while  the  more  ad- 
vanced nations  wore  coats  of  mail  or  plate  armor.  In  addition 
to  this  armor,  the  warrior  carried  a  shield  of  similar  material, 
with  which  to  ward  off  blows  or  intercept  missiles. 

But  with  the  invention  of  gunpowder  and  the  use  of  firearms, 
all  former  means  of  protection  were  found  inadequate.  Re- 
cent inventors  claim  to  have  perfected  an  armor  cloth  that  is 
proof  against  the  bullet  from  our  high-power  rifles,  but  mili- 
tary writers  agree  that  this,  in  its  present  form,  is  unsuitable 
for  the  conditions  of  field  service,  and  other  means  of  protec- 
tion must  be  sought. 

In  the  days  of  flintlocks  and  smooth-])ore  muskets,  the  com- 


> 


EARTHEN    TRENCHED.  ITl 

paratively  short  range  and  low  penetration  of  their  bullets  en- 
abled men  on  the  field  of  battle  to  gain  considerable  protection 
from  improvised  breastworks  of  fence  rails,  logs,  etc. 

The  greater  penetration  of  bullets  from  the  modern  rifle, 
being  about  forty-four  inches  in  pine  and  twenty-one  inches  in 
oak,  virtually  prohibits  the  use  of  timber,  unless  combined 
with  other  materials. 

The  only  material  that  a  soldier  is  always  likely  to  find  at 
liand  is  earth.  By  successive  stages  man  has  been  compelled 
to  depend  almost  entirely  upon  mother  earth  for  effective  pro- 
tection on  the  battle  field. 

The  use  of  earthen  entrenchments  is  not  limited  to  modern 
times,  for  this  means  of  defence  in  battle  is  as  old  as  the  his- 
tory of  warfare. 

/'On  our  own  continent  vestiges  of  circular  and  other  forms 
if  earthen  defences  have  been  discovered,  the  antiquity  of 
(which  can  only  be  conjectured.  In  Ireland  the  ancient  mhab- 
kants  have  left  remains  of  many  earthworks,  while  m  Eng- 
ind  numerous  earthen  fortifications  of  the  early  Britons  and 
'Romans  can  still  be  traced.  The  Romans  relied  much  upon 
their  entrenchments,  and  executed  them  with  marvelous  rap- 
idity. It  has  been  said  of  them:  "By  moving  earth  they  con- 
quered the  world." 

When  in  an  enemy's  country  they  frequently  entrenched 
after  each  day's  march,  and  at  such  times  the  Roman  soldiers 
carried,  in  addition  to  weapons  and  armor,  a  strong  stake. 
These  stakes  were  used  to  form  a  stockade,  which,  in  connec- 
tion with  their  ditches  and  parapets,  gave  shelter  behind  which 
they  could  resist  greatly  superior  numbers. 

Charles  V.  of  Germany,  during  his  wars  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  prominently  recognized  the  merits  of  field  works,  and 
to  each  regiment  of  infantry  he  attached  large  numbers  of 
pioneers,  provided  with  intrenching  tools,  under  command  of 
a  special  officer.  He  fully  appreciated  the  use  of  this  kind  of 
a  force,  which  on  many  ocasions  was  of  inestimable  value  to 

him. 

Najjoleon  said:     "In  a  war  of  march  and  manoeuvre,  if  you 


172  EARTHEN    TRENCHED. 

would  withstand  a  battle  with  a  superior  army,  it  is  necessary 
to  entrench  every  night  and  occupy  good  defensive  positions." 

General  Sherman  said:  "Field  works  will  hereafter  play  an 
important  part  in  wars,  because  they  enable  a  minor  force  to 
hold  a  superior  one  in  check  for  a  time,  and  time  is  a  most 
valuable  element  in  all  wars." 

Major-General  Wright,  who  commanded  the  sixth  corps  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  the  attack  upon  Petersburg,  said 
of  this  attack:  "It  cost  us  in  killed  and  wounded  a  number 
equal,  perhaps,  to  that  of  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy  actually 
engaged.  It  was  an  attack  of  nearly  two  divisions  against  a 
picket  line  covered  by  a  simple  trench  and  parapet;  but  had 
it  been  held  by  two  ranks  of  good  troops  it  is  doubtful  if  it 
could  have  been  carried  by  an  entire  army  corps.  The  conclu- 
sion I  draw  is  that  a  simple  trench  defended  by  two  ranks  of 
infantry,  covered  by  abattis  or  other  obstacle,  and  placed  on 
ground  which  allows  the  range  of  their  arms  to  develop  itself, 
is  absolutely  impregnable,  except  by  surprise." 

This  was  before  the  days  of  magazine  rifles,  and  the  power 
of  small  arms  against  an  assault  has  since  been  greatly  in- 
creased. 

Before  the  late  war  we  had  many  examples  of  what  had  been 
done  in  this  country  and  abroad  by  the  use  of  field  works. 

At  Bunker  Hill  some  2000  raw  militia  men  repulsed  two 
assaults  of  4000  British  regulars,  and  retired  only  from  tlie 
want  of  ammunition. 

At  Savannah  in  1779,  3000  British,  behind  entrenchments, 
repulsed  8000  French  and  Americans  with  a  loss  of  878,  the 
British  loss  being  trifling.  At  Warsaw,  Kosciusko,  with  10,000 
Poles,  entrenched,  drove  back  60,000  Russians  and  Prussians. 

At  New  Orleans,  in  1815,  4000  Americans,  mostly  raw  volun- 
teers, sustained  the  attack,  behind  entrenchments,  of  8000 
British  veterans,  whose  loss  was  about  2000  killed  and 
wounded,  while  the  Americans'  loss  was  only  thirteen. 

In  1861  the  condition  of  warfare  had  changed  somewhat. 
The  introduction  of  rifled  cannon  and  small  arms  nearly 
doubled  the  effective  range  of  the  former  and  trebled  that  of 
the  latter,  thus  the  fire-swept  zone  separating  the  opposing 


EARTHEN    TRENCHES.  .      1^3 

forces  at  the  beginning  of  a  battle  and  the  intensity  of  the  fire 
were  greatly  increased.  Under  these  new  conditions  it  ell  to 
the  lot  of  Americans  to  demonstrate  to  the  military  world  the 
still  greater  value  of  hasty  entrenchments. 
^  Our  war  was  characterized  by  several  new  departures,  such 
as  the  use  of  ironclad  vessels,  extensive  use  of  cavalry  for 
raiding  and  for  screening  other  troops,  and  last,  but  "ot  least, 
the  development  of  hasty  entrenching  of  the  battle  fie  d.  In 
the  early  years  of  the  war  the  otflcers  and  men  on  both  sides 
failed  to  appreciate  or  use  the  pick  and  shovel  until  costly  ex- 
perience taught  them  that  the  new  conditions  due  to  improved 
arms  gave  to  those  on  the  defensive  such  an  advantage  that 
even' attacking  forces  must  frequently  entrench  sometimes 
under  fire.  This  was  frequently  done,  afterwards,  to  hold 
gr/)und  gained  or  to  resist  counter  attacks,  while  the  enemy  s 
fiank  was  being  turned. 

So   well   did   the   veteran   troops   learn   the   value    of   their 
trenches  that  upon  halting  after  a  day's  march,  near  the  enemy, 
they  immediately  set  to  work  to  entrench.     No  orders  were 
) necessary;  in  fact,  it  was  often  dil^cult  to  have  them  delay  long 
enough  to  have  a  proper  line  marked  out.     If  no  tools  were  at 
hand,    bayonets,    tin    cups    and    jack-knives    ^^ere    used-the 
trenches  must  be  made.     But  it  was  not  until  1864  that  the 
lesson  of  entrenching  was  so  thoroughly  learned;  then  Grant 
against  Lee  in  Virginia,   and   Sherman  against  Johnston    in 
Georgia,  found  it  most  expedient,  necessary  and  successful  to 
meet    entrenchments    with    entrenchments    on    almost    every 
battle  field.     Our  example  was  followed  and  the  wisdom  of  our 
methods  demonstrated  by  General  Skobeloff  and  others  m  the 
Russo-Turkish  war  of  1877-78.     Capt.  F.  V.  Greene,  then  our 
military  attache  with  the  Russian  army,  wrote  of  the  march  of 
Skobeloff -s  division  from  Plevna  to  Constantinople:       bvery 
man  carried  an  implement  of  some  kind,  about  85  per  cent, 
being  spades  or  shovels.  10  per  cent,  picks  and  the  rest  axes, 
etc      His   division  marched  with   these   on   their  backs   from 
Plevna  to  Constantinople;  they  w^re  slung  over  the  b^^k.  the 
handle  projecting  above  the  left  shoulder,  and  the  spade  belovv 
Ih.  right  hip,  and  were  attached  to  the  right  shoulder  with  a 


174  EARTHEN    TREXCHES. 

piece  of  string,  a  strap,  a  piece  of  old  tent  or  anything  else 
that  was  available;  they  were  heavy  (weighing  over  live 
pounds);  they  were  uncomfortable;  they  were  in  every  way 
inconvenient;  but,  each  man  had  learned  that  his  individual 
life  depended  upon  his  musket  and  spade — and  he  took  good 
care  to  lose  neither  the  one  nor  the  other." 

The  simplest  form  of  shelter  for  a  soldier  in  open  country 
is  a  shallow  trench,  which  will  furnish  from  the  excavation 
sufficient  earth,  when  heaped  upon  the  side  toward  the  enemy, 
to  screen  the  soldier  from  view  and  to  protect  him  from  bul- 
lets. This  is  commonly  known  as  a  rifle  pit  or  shelter  trench. 
The  smallest  trench  that  can  be  made  upon  level  ground  and 
afTord  shelter  to  a  man  is  sloped  from  the  surface  of  the  ground 
in  front  to  a  depth  of  eighteen  inches  in  rear,  and  its  width  is 
five  feet. 

Its  length  depends  upon  the  number  of  men  to  use  it.  The 
earth  taken  from  the  trench  and  heaped  upon  the  ground  in 
front  will  make  a  mound  fifteen  inches  high  and  three  and  one- 
half  feet  thick,  allowing  protection  against  small  arms'  fire.  A 
log  laid  in  front  of  the  trench  and  the  earth  thrown  over  and 
against  it  adds  greatly  to  the  protection.  A  trench  of  this 
kind  can  be  made  by  troops  with  intrenching  tools  in  about 
thirty  minutes.  In  an  hour's  time  this  trench  could  be  made 
eighteen  inches  deep  throughout,  allowing  men  to  kneel  in 
firing  and  still  be  protected. 

In  about  two  hours,  if  the  soil  is  not  difficult  to  dig,  the 
trench  can  be  made  eight  feet  wide,  giving  a  mound 
of  earth  three  feet  high  and  enabling  men  to  stand  erect  in 
the  trench  while  firing.  The  first  trench  offers  no  obstruction 
to  an  advance  of  cavalry  or  artillery  over  tlie  ground,  but  the 
two  latter  would,  should  the  enemy  get  so  far. 

In  rocky  or  marshy  ground,  where  a  deep  trench  would 
either  require  much  labor  or  lie  impracticable,  the  necessary 
earth  for  the  breastwork  may  be  obtained  by  digging  a  slial- 
low  trench  on  each  side.  In  a  timbered  country,  .if  time  be 
allowed,  trees  could  be  cut  and  a  log  revetment  made,  about 
four  feet  high,  and  the  earth  thrown  up  against  it  from  the 
outside. 


V 


EARTHEN    TRENCHES.  177 

The  ground  in  front  could  be  covered  by  a  row  of  strong 
boughs,  laid  close  together,  the  butts  stacked  to  the 
ground.  A  slight  glacis  would  protect  this  obstacle  from 
artillery  fire,  and  it  would  be  of  service  in  checking  the  ad- 
vance of  assaulting  parties  and  holding  them  under  close  fire 
lor  a  time.  During  the  war  head  cover  was  obtained  by 
what  was  known  as  a  "'head  log"  placed  a  few  inches  above 
the  top  of  a  parapet  to  allow  of  firing  under.  It  was  sup- 
ported on  long  skids,  so  that  if  struck  by  a  cannon  ball  it 
would  slide  down  over  the  heads  of  the  men,  instead  of  falling 
on  them. 

Trenches  to  be  strongly  defended  should  have  two  men  for 
about  every  three  feet  in  length — one  man  in  the  firing  line 
and  one  in  reserve  to  provide  for  casualties  and  act  as  a  sup- 
port. 

For  different  soils,  the  thickness  which  will  resist  the  pene- 
tration of  modern  rifle  bullets  is— for  sand  sixteen  inches,  loam 
twenty-four  inches  and  clay  forty-two  inches.  As  a  factor  of 
safety  an  additional  one-third  should  be  added  to  these  figures 
in  the  construction  of  intrenchments. 

The  armies  of  almost  all  civilized  nations  have  today  an  in- 
trenching tool,  in  some  form,  as  part  of  the  equipment  of  the 
soldiers. 
Though  we  were  the  first  to  demonstrate  the  general  utility 

of  such  implements  in  modern  warfare,  we  are  today  behind  in 
the  matter  of  such  equipments. 

As  we  do  not  know  how  soon  we  may  be  called  upon  to 

enter-the  field  in  active  war,  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  prepare 

in  this  respect,  as  we  have  in  others.     Our   National   Guard 

should  have  some  such  equipment  and  some  instruction  in  the 

principles  of  hasty  entrenchment. 

To  the  uninitiated,  the  use  of  such  defences  on  the  battle 

field  may  seem  unheroic,  but  the  most  tried  veterans  of  late 

wars  have  tested  their  value  and  necessity,  placed  the  stamp  of 
pproval  upon  them,  and  have  shown,  afterwards,   by   many 

desperate  assaults,  that  their  power  to  take  the  offensive  was 

not  thereby  diminished. 


178  EARTHEN    TRENCHES. 

It  has  been  truly  said:  "In  military  matters,  as  in  others, 
there  is  a  time  for  every  purpose — a  time  to  attack  and  a  time 
to  refrain  from  attacking,  a  time  to  entrench  and  a  time  to 
refrain  from  entrenching.  The  question  of  questions  is,  where 
and  how  to  do  these  things?" 

But  the  concensus  of  opinion  is  that  the  pick  and  shovel  will 
be  important  factors  in  great  wars  of  the  future,  as  they  were 
in  the  days  of  '64  and  '65. 


THE    MOSQUITO    FLEET.  -  179 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE    MOSQI'ITO    FI>BET. 

TO  KEEP  A  STRICT  WATCH  FOR  THE  ENEMY  ALONG  THE  ATLANTIC 
— MARYLAND  NAVAL  RESERVES  WILL  MAN  THE  CRUISER 
DIXIE,  MONITOR  MAHOPAC  AND  OTHER  VESSELS  IN  THE 
FIFTH  PATROL  DISTRICT,  WHICH  INCLUDES  THE  CHESA- 
PEAKE—DESIGNED FOR  SCOUT  DUTY.  THE  "MOSQUITOES" 
MAY    STING    HOSTILE    SHIPS. 

Baltimore,  the  Chesapeake  bay  and  the  .Atlantic  coast,  knm 
Metonikiii  Inlet  on  tlie  north  to  New  Inlet  on  the  south,  is  m 
the  fifth  district  to  be  protected  by  the  newly-organized  mos- 
quito fleet  of  coast-defence  vessels.  The  former  inlet  is  nff 
the  coast  of  .\ccomac  county,  Virginia,  and  the  latter  off  the 
North  Carolina  coast  a  short  distance  to  the  nf)rth\vard  of 
Cape  Hatteras. 

WORK     OF     THE     ilOSOUITO     FLEET. 

The  mosquito  fleet,  which  is  to  be  divided  into  smaller  fleets 
or  squadrons,  each  to  defend  a  certain  district,  will  extend  all 
the  way  from  the  Canada  line  on  the  north  to  the  Florida  Keys 
and  around  the  Gulf  coast  to  the  Mexican  line  on  the  south. 
It  will  consist  of  about  150  vessels,  varying  from  large  ocean 
steamers  to  small  yachts  and  tugs  just  large  enough  to  mount 
a  single  gun.  It  is  intended  to  protect  commerce  as  far  as 
possible  and  to  guard  the  coast.  It  will  be  manned  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Naval  Reserves  and  will  patrol  night  and  day  on 
the  lookout  for  Spaniards. 

THREE    PATROL    LINES. 

The  defenders  uKiy  be  divided  into  three  lines:     The   first 


180  THE    MOSQUITO    FLEET. 

twenty-five  miles  out,  which  would,  of  course,  be  composed 
of  the  largest  craft;  the  next  midway  to  the  shore,  composed 
of  the  middle-class  vessels,  and  the  last  close  to  the  shore, 
composed  of  the  smaller  tugs  and  yachts.  A  thorough  system 
of  signals  will  be  arranged,  so  that  the  approach  of  the  enemy 
can  be  readily  and  quickly  heralded. 

TO    PREVENT    BLOCKADE. 

It  is  very  important  to  provide  against  the  possibility  of 
blockade.  This  can  be  done  only  by  adequate  naval  defence, 
in  addition  to  fortifications.  And  as  a  means  to  this  defence 
and  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any  such  catastrophe,  the  mos- 
quito fleet  will  devote  its  energies  to  the  waters  near  our 
harbor.  Its  sphere  of  action  will  be  limited  to  keeping  in 
touch  with  the  enemy's  squadron  should  it  dare  to  approach 
our  coast,  and  to  send  information  of  its  movements  to  the 
signal  station  on  the  shore.  It  might  be  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances advisable  and  even  necessary  for  these  mosquitos 
to  get  within  range  of  the  enemy  and  begin  with  their  long- 
carrying,  though  small-calibered,  guns  to  sting  him,  much  as 
would  their  namesakes. 
/■ 

MIGHT  BEAT  OFF  A  FLEET. 

It  is  quite  possible  for  several  of  these  fast  small  boats  to 
beat  ofif  a  small  cruiser  fleet  that  came  within  range  of  their 
guns.  Then,  too,  some  of  the  larger  vessels  of  the  mosquito 
fleet  will  be  armed  with  a  few  rapid-fire  guns  of  caliber  suffi- 
cient to  send  a  shot  through  four  or  five  inches  of  iron  at  looo 
yards'  range. 

SEACOAST   RESIDENTS    SAFE. 

Our  cottagers  and  summer  seacoast  visitors  should  bear  in 
mind  the  fact  that  not  only  will  they  have  the  mosquito  fleet 
to  protect  their  lives  and  property,  not  only  will  there  be 
some  few  big  vessels  like  the  monitors  to  help  the  small  craft 


Till-:    Mosiji  ITO    i'LKKT.  '^'^'A 

do  the  fighting,  and  not  only  will  the  guns  mounted  on  the 
coast  forts  carry  further  than  the  guns  of  the  Spanish  vesse  s. 
but  also  that  there  would  be  no  object  to  be  gained  by  the 
enemy  m  destroying  a  cottage  by  the  sea.  no  indemnity  can  be 
obtained  to  amount  to  anything  from  such  communities,  no 
coal    no  provisions,   no  assistance   of  any   sort.     Indeed,   the 
happy  families  can,  we  assure  them,  rest  as  quietly  and  safely 
and  enjov  the  loathing  as  thoroughly,  so   far  as  the   Spanish 
fleet  is  concerned,  as  though  there  were  no  war.     Ships  like 
the  Spanish  that  have  to  come  3000  miles  to  fight  cannot  afford 
to  waste  ammunition  and  coal  and  time  in  engaging  in  battle 
with  defenceless  houses. 

IN    THE   FIFTH    DISTRICT. 

The  squadron  of  the  fleet,  which  will  protect  the  fifth  dis- 
trict   will  be  manned  principally  by  the  Maryland  Naval  Re- 
serves   under  Commander   Emerson,  and  will  consist  of  the 
auxiliary  cruiser  Dixie,  the  monitor  Mahopac.   a  number  of 
seagoing  tugs,  the  steam  yacht  Nydia  and  others.     The  larger 
vessels  which  will  be  assigned  to  the  mosquito  fleet  later  on. 
as  the  enemy  approaches  these  waters,  will  be  well  armed  with 
effective  guns   of  the   large   rapid-fire   type.     On   the   smaller 
vessels,  such  as  the  yachts,  tugs  and  revenue  cutters,  will  be 
mounted  machine  guns  and  six-pounders.     They  are  not  ex- 
pected to  do  any  offensive  fighting  except  as  a  last  resort,  but 
are  expected  to  patrol  the  coast  and  notify  the  shore  signal 
stations  whenever  a  hostile  fleet  is  sighted.     It   is  expected 
that  Spain  will  issue  letters  of  marque  to  a  large  number  of 
privateers,  and  it  is  to  guard  the  coast  against  these  vessels 
that  the  mosquito  fleet  is  to  be  of  the  greatest  service. 

WHEN   .\N   ENEMY  IS   SIGHTED. 

When  a  privateer  or  a  war  vessel  is  sighted  the  little  vessel 
will  run  into  the  nearest  signal  station  and  the  news  will  be  at 
•  once  communicated  to  headquarters,  to  be  established  at  vari- 
ous points      This  will  enable  the  land  batteries  to  prepare  t..r 


184  THE    MOHQUITO    FLEET. 

the  intruder  and  keep  the  warships  informed  as  to  the  where- 
abouts of  the  hostile  vessels.  The  mosquito  fleet  is  mainly 
composed  of  vessels  of  considerable  speed  and  of  light  draught, 
and  can  easily  run  into  the  shallow  creeks  and  bays  to  escape 
the  enemy.  With  their  machine  guns  they  can  repel  boarders 
and  their  six-pounders  may  be  serviceable  against  privateers 
of  a  low  grade. 

About  sixty  signal  service  stations  will  be  established  along 
the  coast,  principally  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lighthouses. 


SHARES    IN    PRIZE    MONEY.  185 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

SHARES    IN    PKIZE   MONEY. 

HOW  CAPTURED   VESSELS  ARE  CONDEMNED   IN   FEDERAL  COURTS 
AND    THE    PROCEEDS     DIVIDED. 

The  methods  of  procedure  in  the  United  States  with  regard 
to  a  vessel  captured  by  a  warship  are  prescribed  in  the  prize 
act  passed  on  June  30,  1864,  and  since  incorporated,  with 
amendments,  into  the  federal  statutes. 

The  captor  is  required  by  this  law  to  send  the  captured  vessel 
to  a  near  port,  preferably  a  United  States  port,  but  allowably 
a  neutral  port.  If  to  a  United  States  port,  the  vessel  is  taken 
in  charge  by  the  Federal  District  Court,  and  there  are  judicial 
proceedings  in  admiralty,  the  idea  being  to  determine  judi- 
cially whether  the  capture  was  lawful.  If  it  is  so  decided  the 
vessel  and  cargo  are  condemned  and  ordered  to  be  sold  and 
the  money  turned   into   the   United  States   treasury   as   prize 

money. 

The  proceeds  of  the  sale  are  entirely  given  to  the  captor  if 
the  vessel  is  of  superior  size  or  force,  while  only  one-half  is 
given  if  the  capture  was  of  inferior  force,  the  United  States 
getting  the  other  half. 

The  sum  which  goes  to  the  warship  is  distributed  according 
to  the  following  rules:  Commanding  officer  of  a  fleet,  one- 
twentieth:  commanding  officer  of  the  division  of  the  fleet  to 
which  the  captor  belonged,  one-fiftieth:  fleet  captain,  one- 
hundredth;  commander  of  the  vessel,  one-tenth,  while  the 
junior  ofScers  and  men  divide  the  residue  in  proportion  to 
their  respective  rates  of  pay. 


180  DYNAMITE    IN    MODhJHN    WAHFAJ^E. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

DYNAMITE   IN   MODERN   WARFARE. 

USES   AND   DANGERS   OF    DYNAMITE    BOTH    AFLOAT   AND    ASHORK. 

In  the  warfare  of  today,  whether  it  be  on  land  or  sea,  dyna- 
mite is  bound  to  be  an  important  factor.  The  limited  knowl- 
edge of  its  possibilities  and  the  frightful  danger  attendant  upon 
its  use  are  elements  which  add  a  sort  of  horrible  fascination  to 
everything  which  may  be  said  or  written  concerning  it. 

While  there  are  dynamite  guns  defending  every  seaport  of 
the  United  States,  the  pneumatic  battery  at  Sandy  Hook.  N.  J., 
guarding  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  New  York,  is  the  most 
complete  means  of  defence  in  the  world.  The  result  of  the 
experiments  with  the  guns  of  the  Vesuvius  and  the  various 
trials  of  these  weapons  both  at  Sandy  Hook  and  Fort  Lafay- 
ette have  all  been  highly  satisfactory.  The  tests  at  first  in- 
cluded range,  accuracy,  rapidity  of  loading  and  firing  and 
proper  action  of  the  valve  mechanisms.  It  was  also  demanded 
that  the  eight-inch  gun  must  be  able  to  cover  all  ranges  from 
ICO  to  2600  yards  with  shells  containing  100  pounds  of  explo- 
sive gelatine  and  from  100  to  3200  yards  with  shells  containing 
fifty  pounds.  The  15-inch  gun.  with  fifty  pounds,  must  range 
from  100  to  5500  yards:  with  100  pounds,  to  4500  yards:  with 
250  pounds,  to  3550  yards,  and  with  500  pounds,  to  3000  yards. 
The  desired  result  was  more  than  attained  in  every  instance. 
It  is  known  that  a  shell  containing  200  pounds  of  dynamite  will 
blow  the  largest  ironclad  afloat  out  of  the  water  if  it  strikes 
sciuarely  against  the  side  or  deck.  The  latter  reference  applies 
to  the  suggested  use  of  dynamite  dropped  from  balloons  on 
the  decks  of  a  fleet  or  the  heads  of  an  army,  a  species  of  war- 
fare that  would  hardly  seem  allowable  among  civilized  nations. 


DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARFARE.  189 

The  rapidity  of  loading  and  firing  from  a  shore  battery,  fort 
or  other  fortification  varies  with  the  amount  of  the  explosive 
in  the  shell,  but  the  time  must  not  exceed  three  minutes  for 
one  shell  of  500  pounds  or  forty  minutes  for  ten  consecutive 
rounds.  For  a  shell  charged  with  200  pounds  two  minutes  are 
allowed  or  twenty-seven  for  ten  consecutive  rounds.  The  rate 
of  rapidity  continues  to  increase  with  smaller  charges,  as  many 
as  ten  rounds  in  twenty  minutes  being  reached.  The  eight- 
inch  gun  will  be  fired  five  rounds  with  fifty  and  five  with  100 
pounds  in  the  shell,  while  the  15-inch  will  be  fired  three  rounds 
with  fifty,  eight  with  100,  ten  with  200  and  five  with  500. 

The  pneumatic  gun,  with  its  accessories,  is  quite  an  elabo- 
rate apparatus  of  hydraulic  pumps,  boilers,  condensers  and 
reservoirs.  The  guns  are  so  mounted  as  to  be  pointed  in  any 
direction  and  to  be  elevated  to  thirty-five  degrees.  The  latter 
can  be  done  either  by  hand  or  by  pneumatic,  hydraulic  or  elec- 
tric power.  It  is  obvious  that  some  of  the  objections  raised 
against  the  use  of  such  a  form  of  armament  on  shipboard  do 
not  apply  to  its  use  in  forts.  There  is  more  room  for  it,  and 
it  no  longer  has  the  unstable  platform  given  by  the  rolling  and 
pitching  of  a  vessel  in  a  seaway.  It  can  likewise  be  so  pro- 
tected in  a  fort  as  to  occasion  less  fear  of  its  demolition  by  an 
enemy's  fire.  Regarded  as  an  aerial  torpedo,  it  has  a  far 
greater  range  than  the  submarine  torpedo,  and  it  may  either 
strike  upon  the  deck  of  a  vessel  or  explode  beneath  the  keel. 

Recent  experiments  have  convinced  the  best  students  of 
ordnance  that  the  use  of  dynamite  justifies  the  expenditure 
of  millions  of  dollars  where  thousands  have  previously  been 
expended.  The  dynamite  gun  can  be  used  in  fortifications  as 
a  torpedo  defense  of  a  harbor,  or,  in  swift-moving  torpedo- 
boats,  as  a  defence  of  men-of-war  against  movable  torpedoes 
or  for  siege  operations  on  land  by  regular  approaches.  The 
application  of  the  dynamite  principles  of  ordnance  to  a  class 
of  guns,  light,  easily  manipulated  and  quickly  moved,  will  in 
all  probability  eventually  displace  field  artillery.  Dynamite 
guns  may  be  mounted  upon  a  fast  unarmored  vessel  or  a  whole 
fleet  of  them  and  the  giant-powder  shells  shot  into  the  enemy 


190  DYlSAMlTi:    IX    MoniJKX    UlA'/'l/.'/v. 

with  such  fierce  rapidity  as  to  quickly  render  him  helpless. 
Virtually  the  expense  of  armor  and  heavy  steel  guns  is  ren- 
dered unnecessary  by  the  use  of  pneumatic  dynamite  guns,  at 
least  so  far  as  "inshore"  fighting  is  concerned. 

The  war  in  Cul)a  may  be  primitive  in  its  general  methods,  as 
it  has  been  barbarous  in  its  butchery,  but  it  has  had  a  modern- 
ized aspect  in  the  use  of  dynamite  and  other  explosives  as 
weapons  of  offence  and  defence.  To  the  dynamite  gun  used 
by  the  insurgents  in  the  western  province,  Pinar  del  Rio,  may 
be  attributed  more  that  to  anything  else  the  noteworthy  suc- 
cesses of  Maceo  a  year  and  a-half  ago,  and  lately  with  the 
dynamite  guns  successfully  landed  from  filibustering  expedi- 
tions near  Nuevitas,  General  Gomez  has  been  able  to  push 
his  forces  more  valiantly  on  toward  the  environs  of  Havana. 

Invisible  bullets,  though  deadly  in  their  effects,  seem  trifles 
in  comparison  with  a  dynamite  shower  of  liquid  devastating 
fire.  It  is  little  wonder  that  the  Spaniards  have  been  invari- 
ably defeated  when  they  have  been  forced  to  make  a  stand 
against  such  implements  of  destruction,  and  if  the  Cubans  with 
only  on  gun  at  first  were  able  to  excite  terror  in  the  hearts  of 
their  antagonists  the  world  can  easily  imagine  what  batteries 
of  six,  twelve  and  twenty  guns,  as  are  to  be  found  at  many  de- 
fensive points  of  the  United  States,  will  be  able  to  do  in  execu- 
tion when  the  demand  is  made  upon  them.  The  excessive 
slaughter  that  will  follow  will  appear  more  like  wholesale 
murder  than  the  stereotyped  "civiliz.ed  warfare."  But,  at  any 
rate,  the  use  of  these  weapons  by  the  Cubans  has  satisfied  the 
military  mind  of  their  value  for  offensive  purposes. 

The  guns  at  Sandy  Hook  have  proved  that  dynamite  can  be 
thrown  with  safety  by  means  of  compressed  air.  and  by  the  use 
of  this  system  the  projectile  is  discharged  without  shock. 

Brig.-Gen.  Daniel  W.  Flagler,  chief  of  ordnance,  is  con- 
vinced that  dynamite  will  play  a  considerable  part  in  the  war- 
fare «)l  today.  He  subdivides  the  difficulty  of  handling  the 
substance  into  two  heads,  saying  that  it  is  necessary  to  first 
obtain  an  t'\i)losive  of  the  highest  order  that  can  be  lired 
safely — that  is.  without  dinger  of  ex])losion  from  the  shock  in 


DTNAMlTi:    IX    M()ni:n\    WWh'I'ARE.  191 

the  breech  of  the  gun — and,  second,  one  which  will  not  burst 
from  the  shock  of  impact,  but  at  such  time  after  impact  as 
may  be  desired  by  the  gunner.  He  adds:  "We  now  use  high 
explosives  or  dynasub-marine  mines  and  torpedoes.  These 
form  a  part  of  our  system  of  coast  defence.  The  compressed- 
air  guns  (thus  he  terms  dynamite  guns)  are  built  to  discharge 
large  charges  of  high  explosives,  and  tests  have  demonstrated 
their  ability  to  do  this  work.  What  we  desire,  however,  is  to 
obtain  some  systeni  by  which  the  explosives  can  be  fired  long 
distances.  The  simple  compressed-air  method  fails  to  give  this 
result.  I  believe  that  a  systeni  will  be  found  in  the  near  future 
which  will  satisfactorily  answer  all  requirements." 

In  the  light  of  subsequent  developments  in  this  direction  the 
words  of  General  Flagler  appear  to  have  been  almost  pro- 
phetic. The  Sims-Dudley  gun  which  the  Cuban  insurgents 
have  been  using  for  a  couple  of  years  against  their  Spanish 
oppressors  appears  to  meet  the  views  of  the  chief  of  ordnance 
in  their  broad  aspects.  This  gun  is  loaded  with  powder, 
which,  when  exploded,  compresses  the  air,  which  in  turn  ex- 
pels the  dynamite  with  absolutely  no  danger  to  the  manipulator 
of  the  piece.  It  can  be  operated  by  the  veriest  tyro,  as  has 
been  proved  by  the  fact  that  many  of  the  gunners  in  Cuba  who 
have  handled  them  have  been  farm  hands  who  have  never 
previously  seen  anything  more  deadly  than  a  machete. 

There  has  just  been  brought  out  a  new  form  of  this  dynamite 
gun  which  is  a  great  improvement  over  those  in  use  in  Cuba. 
Although  so  deadly  that  everything  within  a  distance  of  forty 
feet  of  the  point  of  impact  of  the  projectile  is  smashed  to  atoms, 
the  new  gun  is  very  simple  in  construction.  Under  the  tube 
from  which  the  projectile  is  fired  is  another  connected  with  it. 
In  this  is  placed  a  charge  of  smokeless  gunpowder.  When 
fired,  the  powder  compresses  the  air  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
projectile  is  hurled  to  a  distance  of  about  three  miles. 

The  projectile  is  a  long  tube,  which  contains  a  cap  that  is 
fired  by  an  ingenious  arrangement  when  the  projectile  strikes 
either  earth  or  water.  The  cap  sets  fire  to  a  layer  of  fulminate 
of  mercury,  which  in  turn  ignites  some  gun  cotton.     The  gun 


192  DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARFARE. 

cotton  fires  the  explosive  gelatine,  which  explodes  the  pro- 
jectile. This  gelatine,  though  very  destructive,  cannot  ignite 
with  heat  below  375  degrees.  This  explains  the  present  layers 
of  explosives. 

Mr.  Sims  has  offered  to  equip  100  or  more  tugboats  for  the 
government  with  these  guns,  and  guarantees  that  with  them 
the  coast  can  be  kept  perfectly  clear  of  foreign  warships.  They 
are  especially  adapted  for  this  sort  of  work,  for  the  gun,  be- 
sides being  smokeless,  is  practically  noiseless,  emits  no  flash 
and  has  no  recoil.  These  points  render  it  of  peculiar  advan- 
tage for  use  on  tugs  or  other  small  craft. 

But  the  dynamite  "projector"  will  be  used  in  other  locations 
than  on  our  coast  fortifications.  "The  United  States  Steamer 
Vesuvius,.  With  Special  Reference  to  Her  Pneumatic  Bat- 
tery," is  the  title  of  a  prize  essay  by  Lieutenant  Commander 
Seaton  Schroeder,  U.  S.  N.,  at  one  time  in  command  of  that 
vessel.  He  admits  that  she  was  designed  simply  to  carry  the 
guns  and  to  satisfy  the  popular  and  somewhat  erratic  cry  for 
great  speed  and  that  the  latter  object  was  attained  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  other  features. 

A  strong  point  in  favor  of  the  pneumatic  gun  is  this:  The 
torpedo  strikes  under  water,  the  armor-piercing  shell  attacks 
the  portion  of  the  Inill  above  water,  but  with  the  shell  from 
the  dynamite  gun  any  hit  "counts." 

The  most  advantageous  position  for  a  pneumatic-gun  vessel 
is  held  to  be  either  ahead  or  astern  of  the  enemy,  and  while 
it  may  be  rarely  possible  for  a  single  ship  to  choose  its  posi- 
tion, vessels  of  this  class,  hunting  in  couples,  which  is  the  best 
of  tactics,  should  find  little  difficulty,  by  separating,  in  getting 
their  victim  in  the  most  favorable  position  for  delivering  a 
fatal  blow  from  one  or  the  other. 

The  United  States  Government,  recognizing  this  fact  and 
proposing  to  have  these  death-dealing  monsters  hunt  in 
couples,  has  lately  purchased  from  Brazil  the  dynamite  cruiser 
Nictheroy.  Formerly  she  was  the  American  steamship  El 
Cid,  but  when  the  provisional  war  fleet  for  Brazil  was  organ- 
ized in  1893  she  was  rechristened  the  Nicthergy,  and  it  was  her 


> 
O 

H 

n 


DYNAMITE    IX    MODERN    WARFARE.  195 

dynamite  gun  which  was  relied  upon  to  quell  the  rebellion  in 
the  South  American  republic.  Her  late  arrival,  however,  pre- 
cluded the  testing  of  its  value.  This  gun  has  a  bore  of  fifteen 
inches  and  throws  projectiles  carrying  fifty,  loo,  200  and  500 
pounds  of  nitro-glycerine,  the  range  of  fire  varying  according 
to  the  weight.  The  officer  commanding  this  gun  is  able  to 
swing  it  around  and  to  change  the  elevation  by  means  of  elec- 
tric machinery.  The  dynamite  guns  on  the  Vesuvius  are  fired 
by  the  officer  in  the  conning  tower,  because  they  are  fixed  in 
the  hull  and  must  be  controlled  by  the  one  who  steers. 

On  November  19,  1893,  it  was  stated  that  Old  Glory  came 
down  forever  from  the  Nictheroy  and  the  flag  of  Brazil  was 
raised  to  the  peak,  but  the  stars  and  stripes  float  again  from 
her  main  peak.  The  Nictheroy  is  a  steel  vessel,  and  her  one 
screw  propels  her  at  the  rate  of  nineteen  knots  an  hour.  Her 
engines  and  boilers  are  protected  by  coal,  and  her  armament 
consists  of  the  one  Zalinski  15-inch  pneumatic  gun,  one  4.7-inch 
and  two  3.9-inch  rapid-firing  guns,  eight  six-pounders,  ten 
one-pounders  and  four  Howell  torpedo  tubes.  The  efliciency 
of  the  pneumatic  weapon,  hurling  colossal  explosive  missiles, 
is  beyond  question.  The  modern  high-power  rifle  will  prob- 
ably continue  to  be  the  foremost  implement  of  war,  but  not 
nearly  so  much  damage  is  done  with  it  at  sea  as  one  would  be 
apt  to  infer  from  provoking  ground  firings.  This  is  demon- 
strated in  the  comparatively  slight  injury  done  to  the  Huascar 
in  her  gallant  conflict  with  two  Chilian  ironclads  and  the  dis- 
appointment felt  at  the  inadequate  results  of  the  bombard- 
ment of  Sfax.  Tunis,  by  the  French  fleet  in  July,  1881,  and  of 
the  Alexandria  (Egypt)  forts  by  the  British  fleet  in  1882. 

In  battle  the  crew  of  the  Vesuvius  would  embark  on  their 
errand  of  death  with  many  chances  against  a  safe  return.  She 
carries  an  enormous  supply  of  dynamite,  and  a  hostile  pro- 
jectile correctly  aimed  would  explode  this,  leaving  not  a  trace 
of  vessel  or  men.  She  will  either  hurl  dreadful  but  sudden 
death  upon  her  enemies  or  suffer  annihilation,  perhaps  both. 
Should  a  rapid  movement  be  made  against  any  port  the  Vesu- 
vius will  precede  our  fleet,  exploding  all  the  mines  and  craft 
that  she  can  reach.     Her  three  15-inch  guns  will  distribute  ex- 


196  DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARFARE. 

plosive  shells  lOO  feet  apart,  the  fuses  being  regulated  so  as  to 
explode  only  after  the  bottom  of  the  channel  has  been  touched. 
Every  hidden  torpedo,  mine  or  submarine  battery  within  fifty 
feet  of  each  explosion  will  be  destroyed,  and  at  each  simul- 
taneous discharge  of  the  three  guns  there  will  be  cleared  a 
safe  channel  300  feet  wide  and  100  feet  long  over  which  our 
warships  may  safely  steam.  This  submarine  plowing,  by  the 
way,  costs  $90,000  a  mile.  The  terrible  guns  of  the  Vesuvius 
can,  moreover,  drop  a  lOO-pound  charge  of  gun  cotton  into  a 
fort  two  and  one-half  miles  away  or  a  500-pound  charge  the 
distance  of  one  mile. 

The  submarine  boat  Holland  has  given  satisfactory  tests, 
and  will  probably  prove  a  dangerous  antagonist  in  a  sea  fight. 
Our  latest  purchase  is  what  the  British  call  a  "torpedo  chaser," 
of  the  Yarrow  type,  named  the  Manley.  She  is  built  more  for 
speed  than  destructiveness.  her  rate  being  thirty-two  knots  per 
hour.  Her  length  is  fifty-four  feet,  beam  9.3  feet,  and  her 
draft  astern  3.8  feet.  She  does  not  run  entirely  under  water, 
but  so  low  that  her  decks  will  be  awash.  She  is  painted  a  dull 
lead  color,  and  when  tearing  through  the  water  at  her  maxi- 
mum speed  it  will  be  almost  impossible  for  a  foe  to  put  a  shot 
into  her. 

In  striking  contrast  to  these  vessels  is  the  great  ram  Katah- 
din,  which  has  been  compared  to  a  bee,  as  it  is  said  she  will 
immediately  lose  her  own  life  after  inserting  her  sting.  Then 
there  is  our  little  fleet  of  torpedo-boats.  These  are  in  greater 
danger  of  destruction  than  any  craft  on  the  sea,  and  the  most 
of  them,  if  they  should  be  forced  into  an  open  battle  by  day, 
will  be  fortunate  to  get  out  alive.  During  attacks  under  cover 
of  darkness  there  will  of  course  be  less  danger,  but  in  all  their 
hostile  movements  their  only  safety  will  lie  in  the  avoidance  of 
the  rapid-fire  guns  of  the  battleships  which  at  the  time  they 
may  happen  to  be  "hunting  to  the  death." 

At  the  present  time,  when  the  subject  of  dynamite  is  interest- 
ing almost  every  one  who  has  a  spark  of  martial  feeling  in  his 
soul,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  explain  its  appearance  and  process 
of  manufacture.     Dynamite,  or  giant  powder,  the  invention  of 


DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARFARE.  197 

Alfred  Nobel,  of  Sweden,  can  be  made  into  cakes,  or  it  may 
be  converted  into  a  sticky  paste  called  "explosive  gum,"  or 
enveloped  in  cases  of  paper,  pasteboard  or  metal  to  form  cart- 
ridges. It  is  a  desiccated  mixture  of  three  liquid  ingredients- 
nitric  acid,  sulphuric  acid  and  glycerine— combined  with  saw- 
dust or  some  similar  substance,  the  compound  constituting  a 
mass  resembling  damp  graham  flour  or  pale  cocoa.  To  some 
it  appears  like  coarse  brown  sugar.  "Explosive  gum"  is  of 
pure  nitro-glycerine  and  gun  cotton  more  highly  charged  with 
nitrate. 

The  pulverized  form  prevents  the  transmission  of  ordinary 
shocks  except  under  pressure  in  a  confined  space.  The  pres- 
sure of  the  inert  mineral  constituents  serves  likewise  to  absorb 
heat,  and  consequently  a  high  temperature  cannot  be  readily 
imparted  to  the  whole,  but  when  imparted  this  temperature 
effects  a  great  expansion  of  the  gcxses  and  increased  effective- 
ness of  explosion. 

Ignited  in  the  open  air.  dynamite  burns  quietly  with  nitrous 
fumes.  Exploded,  usually  by  means  of  a  fulminating  fuse  or 
cap.  it  gives  ofif  carbonic  acid,  nitrogen  and  hydrogen,  with 
little  or  no  smoke,  leaving  only  a  white  ash.  Under  favorable 
conditions  the  effectiveness  of  dynamite  is  always  at  least 
equal  and  frequently  superior  to  that  of  nitro-glycerine,  for 
the  latter  is  liable  to  scatter  unexploded  drops  by  reason  of  the 
maximum  rapidity  of  its  ignition. 

Dynamite  is  now  recognized  as  the  safest  of  all  high  explo- 
sives. It  is  not  affected  by  a  prolonged  temperature  of  lOO 
degrees  centigrade,  nor  is  it  as  dangerous  as  nitro-glycerine 
when  it  solidifies  at  eight  degrees  centigrade.  Neither  light, 
electricity  nor  ordinary  shocks,  contrary  to  the  popular  fal- 
lacy, cause  it  to  decompose  or  explode.  The  principal  dan- 
gers connected  with  its  use  are  those  arising  from  the  strong 
fulminating  powders  used  in  the  percussion  fuses  to  explode 
it.  It  is  also  possible  that  if  dynamite  is  carelessly  made  it 
may  contain  an  excess  of  nitro-glycerine,  which,  overcoming 
the  capillary  force  of  the  mineral  particles,  may  collect  in  drops 
and  settle  from  the  mass,  becoming  a  source  of  serious  acci- 


198  DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARFARE. 

dents.  Moreover,  it  may  be  that  freezing  or  thawing  after 
freezing  has  a  tendency  to  segregate  the  oil. 

In  the  pine  woods  of  Southern  New  Jersey,  far  from  any 
human  habitation,  there  are  several  dynamite  factories,  which 
are  harmless-looking  structures,  as  they  are  scattered  frame 
buildings,  generally  one  story  high  and  remote  from  one  an- 
other. In  Europe  there  are  many  notable  factories  in  France 
and  other  countries,  but  the  most  famous  one  is  at  Isleten,  in 
Switzerland.  The  work  there  is  principally  performed  by 
women  and  girls. 

In  the  retail  stores  of  the  United  States  where  dynamite  is 
for  sale  there  is  no  unusual  precaution  taken  in  the  storing 

of  it. 

It  is  the  cap  and  the  cartridge  used  in  connection  with  dyna- 
mite that  are  so  often  confounded  in  the  accounts  of  explo- 
sions, etc.  The  prevailing  idea  about  the  anarchist  Lingg's 
death  is  that  he  exploded  a  cartridge  in  his  mouth.  Instead 
it  was  the  much  smaller  but  just  as  deadly  cap. 

The  common  domestic  article  retails  at  from  twenty-five  to 
sixty  cents  a  pound,  according  to  the  proportion  of  nitro- 
glycerine to  sawdust  or  lampblack. 

Gun  cotton  is  an  explosive  substance  obtained  by  subjecting 
common  cotton  to  the  action  of  strong  nitric  acid.  Several 
products  are  known  under  this  name,  possessing  distinct  pro- 
portions, though  differing  but  little  in  constitution.  The  well- 
known  detonating  gun  cotton  is  insoluble  in  common  ether  or 
alcohol,  and  is  not  attacked  by  acetic  acid,  but  is  capable  of 
being  dissolved  in  acetic  ether.  Gun  cotton  is  not  readily  dis- 
tinguishable in  appearance  from  the  untreated  article,  but  it  is 
slightly  harsher  to  the  touch. 

When  wet,  it  may  be  kept  for  an  indefinite  period  without 
change,  and  whether  wet  or  dry  it  is  affected  by  very  few  re- 
agents. Its  stability  is  superior  to  that  of  gunpowder  in  every 
respect  except  in  the  all-important  one  of  immunity  from  ex- 
plosion. Repeated  accidents  have  destroyed  the  confidence  of 
all  but  the  very  sanguine  in  its  safety.  It  was  for  a  long  time 
supposed  that  the  ingenious  process  of  F.  A.  Abel  has  re- 
moved the  causes  of  distrust,  l)u1  many  subsequent  accidents, 


a. 


> 

r 


DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARFARE.  201 

and  especially  the  terrible  and  unexpected  explosion  at  Stow- 
market,  England,  in  1871,  have  not  lessened  the  almost  univer- 
sal fear. 

If  massive  gun  cotton  be  ignited  by  a  coal  or  flame  of  low 
intensity,  it  burnes  in  the  open  air  inexplosively :  if  nred  by  a 
powerful  flame,  it  flashes  like  gunpowder,  but  if  ignited  by  a 
fulminate,  as  in  the  case  of  the  torpedo,  it  detonates  with  tre- 
mendous violence.  This  "sympathetic"  quality  is  difficult  to 
explain.  It  cannot  be  successfully  used  as  an  agent  for  the 
propulsion  of  projectiles  and  will  never  be  a  perfect  substi- 
tute for  gunpowder  in  military  operations.  There  is  a  new 
gun  cotton,  for  which  much  is  claimed,  manufactured  in  Wol- 
verhampton. England,  whose  composition  is  unknown.  It  is 
called  "gadoxytine." 

The  point  for  consideration  is  that  dynamite  may  be  fired  as 
a  naked  body,  while  gun  cotton  is  always  inclosed  in  the  tor- 
pedo, thoroughly  protected,  and  explodes  from  the  impact  of 
the  protecting  shell,  or  torpedo  case,  against  a  resisting  ob- 
ject, naturally  in  time  of  naval  warfare  the  sides,  keel  and  hull 
of  a  vessel  or  battleship. 

September  20,  1887,  Lieutenant  E.  L.  Zalinski,  of  the  United 
States  Army,  now  a  captain  on  the  retired  list,  gave  his  first 
successful  demonstration  of  the  experiments  he  had  been  for 
some  time  conducting  at  Fort  Lafayette,  New  York  bay,  with 
his  invention,  the  pneumatic  dynamite  gun.  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  Whitney  and  members  of  the  ordnance  committee  were 
present.  The  doomed  old  coast  survey  sailing  vessel  Silliman. 
which  had  outlived  its  usefulness  and  was  to  end  its  marine 
existence  in  the  presence  of  a  distinguished  and  admiring 
crowd,  was  anchored  just  below  the  Narrows,  about  a  mile  and 
a-quarter  from  Fort  Hamilton.  Shortly  after  3  o'clock  there 
was  a  trial  shot.  A  whizzing  noise  was  heard,  a  long-drawn- 
out  "zo-00-oo-ee-ee,"  very  much  like  that  made  by  a  rocket, 
and  a  jet  of  water  rose  in  the  air  thirty  feet  astern  of  the  star- 
board quarter  of  the  Silliman.  There  was  no  dynamite  in  this 
or  in  the  second  shell,  which  fell  eight  yards  to  the  starboard 
side  of  the  vessel.  The  third  shot,  with  more  pretension  in 
the  sound  and  movements— the  projectile  contained  fifty-five 


202  DYNAMITE    IN    MODERN    WARE  ABE. 

pounds  of  explosivegelatine — shattered  a  mast.  The  fourth  shot 
made  a  terrific  noise  as  it  exploded,  the  spray  was  intermin- 
gled with  spars  and  small  pieces  of  wood  and  blackened  with 
smoke,  and  the  Silliman,  struck  directly  under  the  middle  of 
the  hull,  was  lifted  bodily  out  of  the  water  and  wrecked  com- 
pletely. 

Quite  different  in  the  results  was  the  testing  of  the  great 
Justin  dynamite  gun  at  Perrysville,  in  the  vicinity  of  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  on  May  27,  1890,  when  the  gun  bursted  into  a  thousand 
pieces  and  scores  of  people  narrowly  escaped  instant  death. 
But  it  was  an  old  gun  that  had  served  the  Confederacy  during 
the  Civil  War  for  a  field  piece,  and  was  naturally  weakened 
by  long  use.  The  dynamite  shell  upon  which  Dr.  Joel  D. 
Justin  based  his  patent  is  nine  inches  in  diameter  and  forty- 
four  inches  long.  It  incases  several  wooden  boxes  containing 
dynamite.  About  thirty  pounds  of  compressed  cannon  pow- 
der are  necessary  for  each  discharge. 

Gathmann's  dynamite  gun  is  also  considered  a  terrible  en- 
gine of  war.  but  as  it  throws  a  torpedo  shell  it  should  properly 
be  termed  a  torpedo  gun.  One  of  them,  he  claims,  of  the 
same  weight  as  the  ordinary  12-inch  modern  piece,  will  throw 
1500  pounds  of  high  explosive  accurately  a  distance  of  nearly 
three  miles.  No  ship  or  fortress  in  existence  could  withstand 
the  shock  of  a  single  impact,  and  the  rock  of  Gibraltar  would 
crumble,  with  the  garrison,  into  the  Mediterranean  under  a 
day's  bombardment. 

The  torpedo  shell  is  a  copper  cylinder,  large,  tapering  and 
thin,  packed  with  wet  gun  cotton.  At  the  center  of  the  for- 
ward end  is  placed  a  considerable  quantity  of  dry  gun  cotton, 
the  wet  material  being  packed  closely  about  it.  At  the  forward 
end  of  the  dry  explosive  is  some  fulminate,  from  which,  at  the 
point  of  the  torpedo,  runs  a  train  of  powder  to  some  percus- 
sion caps  that  cock  up  a  bit  of  pointed  steel,  which  in  turn  tips 
the  projectile.  This  pointed  bit  of  metal  striking  an  object 
explodes  the  percussion  caps,  the  train  of  powder  is  fired,  the 
dry  gun  cotton  batching  explodes  the  entire  mass  about  it,  and 
the  destruction  of  everything  within  reach  of  the  giant  force 
follows. 


DYNAMITE    /A     MODERN    WARFARE. 


203 


The  Zalinski  gun  is  seventy-five  feet  long,  or  nineteen  feet 
longer  than  the  Krupp  125-ton  gun.  and  naturally  much  less  in 
weight,  as  it  is  simply  a  pneumatic  tube.  With  2000  pounds 
pressure  this  piece  of  ordnance  will  send  100  pounds  of  dyna- 
mite one  and  one-half  miles  at  a  speed  of  1400  feet  a  second. 
This  produces  upon  the  object  struck  by  the  shot  an  mstan- 
taneous  pressure  of  about  6000  pounds  per  square  mch.  1  he 
cost  of  the  gun  is  slight,  its  manufacture  does  not  require  any 
special  plant,  and  in  exigencies  it  can  be  made  rapidly. 


204  GOVERNMENT    OF    A    MAN-OF-WAR. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

GOVERNMENT   OF   A    MAN-OF-WAR. 

HOW  DISCIPLINE  IS  MAINTAINED  ON  THE  SHIPS  OF  THE  UNITED 

STATES    NAVY. 

The  development  of  steel,  steam  and  electricity  may  be  said 
to  constitute  three  paramount  factors  in  the  up-to-date  stand- 
ard which  distinguishes  the  United  States  Navy  of  the  present 
time,  but  an  equally  important  attribute  to  which  may  be 
ascribed  the  marvelous  degree  of  efficiency  which  character- 
izes this  mighty  arm  of  the  service  is  the  splendid  discipline 
which  is  maintained  in  its  various  departments,  and  particu- 
larly on  board  its  war  vessels. 

The  peculiar  conditions  existing  in  the  naval  service  render 
an  invincible  system  of  government  indispensable  to  the  pres- 
ervation of  good  order  and  reliability,  and  to  this  end  the 
utmost  energy  is  exerted  by  those  in  authority  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  rules  and  regulations  afYecting  the  organization. 
In  no  other  instance  has  this  democratic  government  con- 
ferred upon  individuals  so  wide  and  extensive  a  range  of  power 
to  be  exercised  discretionarily.  as  in  the  naval  service,  yet  the 
abuse  of  this  authority  rarely  if  ever  occurs,  to  which  circum- 
stances may  be  attributed  the  unexceptional  deportment  prev- 
alent throughout  its  forces. 

The  articles  for  the  government  of  the  navy,  which  consist 
of  some  5000  words,  are  carefully  read  to  every  person  prior  to 
his  being  sworn  into  the  service  and  to  all  hands  assembled 
at  muster  on  the  first  Sunday  of  every  month,  in  addition  to 
which  a  copy  is  posted  in  a  prominent  place  on  board  each  of 
its  vessels.  These  articles  apply  to  all  persons  serving  in  the 
regular  navy,  from  the  most  exalted  Rear  Admiral  down  to 
the  lowliest  enlisted  man,  and  any  violation  of  their  precepts 
is  punishable  without  partiality  or  respect  to  rank. 


GOVERNMENT    OF    A    MAN-OF-WAR.  207 

To  begin  with,  they  provide  that  the  commanders  of  all 
fleets,  naval  stations  and  vessels  acting  singly  are  required  to 
show  in  themselves  a  good  example  of  honor,  patriotism  and 
obedience;  to  be  vigilant  in  inspecting  the  conduct  of  all  per- 
sons who  are  placed  under  their  command;  to  guard  against 
all  dissolute  and  immoral  practices,  and  to  correct  those  who 
are  guilty  of  them.  They  further  stipulate  that  such  punish- 
ment as  a  court-martial  may  adjudge  may  be  inflicted  on  any 
person  in  the  navy  who  is  guilty  of  drunkenness,  falsehood, 
theft  or  other  scandalous  conduct  tending  to  the  destruction 
of  good  morals:  or  is  guilty  of  oppression  or  maltreatment  of 
any  one  subject  to  his  orders;  or  quarrels  with,  strikes  or  men- 
aces any  person  in  the  navy;  treats  his  superior  ofificer  with 
contempt  or  is  disrespectful  to  him  in  language  or  deport- 
ment; or  associates  himself  with  any  mutinous  combination 
to  weaken  the  lawful  authority  of  his  commanding  officer;  or 
in  time  of  peace  deserts  or  absents  himself  from  his  station 
without  leave. 

When  the  crew  of  any  vessel  of  the  United  States  are  sepa- 
rated therefrom  by  means  of  her  wreck,  loss  or  destruction, 
all  the  command  and  authority  given  to  the  officers  of  such 
vessel  remains  in  full  force  until  such  ship's  company  is  regu- 
larly discharged  from  or  ordered  again  into  service:  and  all 
offences  committed  by  persons  belonging  to  the  navy  while  on 
shore  are  punishable  in  the  same  manner  as  if  they  had  been 
perpetrated  at  sea. 

Particular  emphasis  is  given  to  such  provisions  in  the  arti- 
cles as  relate  to  discipline  in  time  of  war,  in  which  instance 
the  penalty  of  death  may  be  inflicted  upon  any  person  in  the 
navy  guilty  of  the  following  offences: 

Willful  disobedience  of  orders  or  the  violation  of  a  trust, 
clandestine  intercourse  with  an  enemy  or  rebel,  sleeping  while 
on  watch,  intentionally  suffering  any  vessel  of  the  navy  to  be 
stranded  or  run  upon  rocks  or  shoals  or  improperly  hazarded, 
the  willful  injury  of  such  vessel  or  any  part  of  her  tackle, 
equipment  or  armament,  whereby  the  lives  of  the  crew  may  be 
exposed  to  danger,  or  upon  any  one  who  strikes  or  attempts  to 
strike  the  flag  to  an  enemy  or  rebel,  without  proper  authority. 


208  GOVERNMENT    OE    A    MAX-OE-WAR. 

or,  when  engaged  in  battle,  treacherously  yields,  pusillani- 
niously  cries  for  quarter,  displays  cowardice,  negligence  or  dis- 
affection, or  withdraws  from  or  keeps  out  of  danger  to  which 
he  should  expose  himself;  or,  being  in  command  of  a  fleet, 
squadron  or  vessel,  acting  singly,  neglects  when  an  engage- 
ment is  probable  or  when  an  armed  vessel  of  the  enemy  is  in 
sight,  to  prepare  or  clear  his  ship  or  ships  for  action,  or  does 
not,  upon  signal  for  battle,  use  his  utmost  exertions  to  join 
in  the  engagement,  or  fails  to  encourage,  in  his  own  person, 
his  inferior  officers  and  the  men  to  fight  courageously;  or  does 
not  do  his  utmost  to  overtake  and  capture  or  destroy  any 
vessel  which  it  is  his  duty  to  encounter.  All  persons  who,  in 
time  of  war,  come  or  are  found  in  tlie  capacity  of  spies,  or  who 
bring  any  seducting  letter  or  message  from  an  enemy,  or  en- 
deavors to  corrupt  any  person  in  the  navy  to  betray  his  trust, 
shall  suffer  the  punishment  of  death.  This  same  penalty  may 
be  adjudged  upon  any  person  found  guilty  of  the  crime  of 
murder  without  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

A  naval  court-martial  may  adjudge  the  punishment  of  im- 
prisonment for  life,  or  for  a  stated  term,  at  hard  labor,  in  any 
case  where  it  is  authorized  to  fix  the  sentence  of  death,  and 
such  sentence  may  be  carried  into  effect  in  any  prison  or  peni- 
tentiary under  the  control  of  the  United  States.  No  comman- 
der of  a  vessel,  without  the  prior  judgment  of  a  court-martial, 
is  authorized  to  inflict  upon  a  commissioned  or  warrant  officejt 
any  other  punishment  than  private  reprimand,  suspension  from 
duty,  arrest  or  confinement,  the  latter  not  to  continue  longer 
than  ten  days  unless  a  further  period  be  necessary  to  bring  the 
offender  to  trial.  Nor  may  he.  of  his  own  volition,  cause  to 
be  inflicted  upon  any  petty  officer  or  person  of  inferior  rating, 
for  a  single  offence,  any  other  tlian  one  of  the  following  pun- 
ishment: Confinement,  with  or  without  irons,  single  or 
double,  not  exceeding  ten  days.  Solitary  confinement  on 
bread  and  water,  not  exceeding  five  days.  Reduction  or  any 
rating  established  by  himself,  (lejjriv.-ition  of  liberty  on  shore, 
or  extra  duties. 

In  no  case  may  punishment  by  Hogging.  ])rancling.  tattooing 


GOTEIiXMEXT    OF    A    MAN-OF-WAR.  209 

or  other  bodily  suffering,  as  in  former  times,  be  adjudged  by 
any  court-martial  or  inflicted  upon  any  person  in  the  navy. 

General  courts-martial  may  be  convened  by  the  President, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  or  the  commander-in-chief  of  a  fleet 
or  squadron.  The  number  of  officers  necessary  to  constitute 
a  court-martial  must  not  be  less  than  five  or  exceed  thirteen, 
and  when  the  defendant  is  a  commissioned  officer  at  least  one- 
half  the  number  must  be  his  equal  in  rank.  The  senior  officer 
of  the  body  always  presides,  and  the  others  take  place  accord- 
ing to  their  rank.  Upon  convening  the  president  of  the  court 
administers  a  special  oath  or  affirmation  to  the  judge  advo- 
cate, and  each  member,  the  remaining  details  being  conducted 
in  much  the  same  manner  as  jury  trial  on  shore. 

Upon  the  findings  being  announced,  the  ship's  company  is 
immediately  assembled  on  deck  and  the  prisoner  brought  to 
the  mast.  The  executive  officer  then  observes  the  formality 
of  reading  the  charges  and  specifications  aloud  to  the  crew, 
closing  with  the  pronouncement  of  the  sentence  fixed  by  the 
court. 

In  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  navy  courts-martial  are  a 
rare  occurrence,  being  rapidly  on  the  decline  as  the  efficiency 
of  the  service  increases,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  the  corrective  measures  observed  on 
shipboard  will  be  limited  to  the  police  court  proceedings  which 
daily  transpire  at  the  mast,  for  the  investigation  of  minor 
offences,  such  as  must  always  be  unavoidable  in  the  best-regu- 
nRbd  organizations. 


•JKt        aRX.   GREELEY  OX   MILITARY  BALLOONS. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
GENERAL  GREELEY  WRITES  OP  MILITARY  BALLOONS. 

HE    SAYS    THEY    HAVE    PASSED    THE    EXPERIMENTAL    STAGE    AND 
ARE   NOW   A    MOST    IMPORTANT   FACTOR    IN   WARFARE. 

Whether  the  hostilities  in  which  the  United  States  may  at 
some  time  be  engaged  take  place  on  land  or  sea,  the  balloon 
is  sure  to  occupy  an  important  position,  to  be  a  factor  which 
demands  consideration.  The  improvements  in  the  navigation 
of  the  air  which  each  year  has  witnessed  have  caused  the  bal- 
loon to  pass  beyond  the  experimental  stage  and  to  become  one 
of  those  things  which  are  recognized  as  being  no  longer  chim- 
erical but  practical  in  point  of  results. 

From  the  lofty  heights  in  which  the  modern  balloon  is  at 
home  it  would  be  possible  to  locate  the  position  of  the  enemy's 
ships  at  sea,  where  otherwise  it  would  be  impossible  to  distin- 
guish them  even  from  an  observatory.  The  United  States  was 
the  last  almost  of  the  great  powers  to  take  the  question  of  bal- 
loons in  warfare  as  a  serious  one,  but  even  though  our  experi- 
ments have  been  conducted  m  a  small  way,  they  have  cle^ly 
demoi*5trated  the  utilty  of  the  balloon  corps.  ^»^ 

It  is  now  possible  to  navigate  the  air  with  a  very  great  de- 
gree of  certainty  in  point  of  direction — several  hundred  per 
cent,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  when  John  Fitz- 
john  Porter's  ideas  on  this  subject,  which  first  materialized 
early  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  began  again  to  assume  prom- 
inence. Navigating  a  balloon  in  the  present  day  is  much  like 
the  navigation  of  a  ship,  only  we  have  learned  to  navigate  the 
air  instead  of  the  ocean. 

The  utility  and  importance  of  balloons  for  obtaining  mili- 
tary information  during  field  operations  were  demonstrated 
hy  GerifTal  Porter- .*ut.  like  many  othtT  Anicri^'Jni  ideas,  such 


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UKEELFA    OV    MILITARY    /i.W./.OO.VN.        '1V^ 


as  repeating  arms,  etc..  the  military  balloon  proved  too  ad- 
vanced for  the  time,  and  had  to  await  recognition  and  devel- 
opment by  the  military  authorities  of  other  nations.  Yet 
^while  we  were  the  last  of  all  the  powers  to  take  up  the  ques- 
tion of  balloons  seriously,  we  were,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
first  to  use  balloons  in  war,  just  as  we  were  first  to  use  elec- 
trical telegraph  and  signal  appliances  on  the  field  of  battle. 
We  have,  however,  been  outstripped  in  the  development  of  the 
military  balloon  by  other  important  military  powers  who 
have  adopted  and  improved  it. 

These  improved  methods  of  equipment,  manipulation  and 
transportation  have  come  with  the  general  improvement  ni 
industrial  and  inventive  methods.  But  to  the  present  day 
there  have  been  no  experiments  suft^ciently  satisfactory  to 
prove  the  advisability  of  replacing  the  captive  balloon  of  Gen- 
eral Porter  by  free  balloons,  either  for  extended  reconnois- 
ances  or  for  extensive  warfare,  although  the  important  part  to 
be  played  in  future  wars  by  free  dirigible  balloons  or  by  flymg 
machines  is  unquestioned.  ^Ir.  Maxim,  the  great  experiment- 
alist, i£  justified  in  saying: 

"When  the  flying  machine  finally  succeeds,  its  first  great 
use  will  be  for  military  purposes.  It  will  at  once  become  an 
engine  of  war,  not  only  to  reconnoiter  the  enemy's  position, 
as  has  been  attempted  by  so-called  dirigible  balloons,  but  also 
to  carry  and  discharge  into  the  enemy's.lines  and  country  large 
Jiombs  containing  high  explosives." 

To  return  to  our  immediate  subject,  extensive  and  continued 
experiments  have  brought  the  use  of  the  captive  balloon  to 
such  a  degree  of  excellence  that  its  utility  in  any  extented  war- 
fare is  evident.  The  efforts  to  construct  a  dirigible  balloon 
which  can  be  managed  so  as  to  have  its  movements  under  sat- 
isfactory control,  have  so  far  been  inconclusive.  There  is  no 
question  that  Julien  GifTard.  Tissaudier.  Campbell  and  other 
private  inventors,  have  constructed  balloons  which  have  actu- 
ally been  propelled  in  any  desired  direction. 

Captain  Fullerton.  a  member  of  the  Royal  Engineers  of  the 
British  Army,  has  pointed  out  that  a  satisfactory  war  balloon 
must  carry  three  or  four  passengers,  explosive  shells,  a  ma- 


214       GEISI.  GREELEY  ON  MILITARY  BALLOONS. 

chine  gun  or  two,  and  be  able  to  travel  about  thirty  miles  an 
hour  in  calm  weather.  The  balloon  should  have  a  lifting  ca- 
pacity of  about  5500  pounds,  of  which  1700  should  be  in  pas- 
sengers, instruments,  explosives  and  ballast.  The  French 
military  dirigible  balloons,  known  as  the  Challais-Meudon, 
were  successful  at  a  low  rate  of  speed,  only  in  calm  weather, 
and  with  a  toal  weight  of  2400  pounds,  were  able  to  carry  only 
310  pounds  of  passengers  and  470  ballast. 

The  experiments  of  such  able  scientists  as  Professor  Lang- 
ley,  in  the  United  States;  Colonel  Duchemin.  the  French  engi- 
neer, and  Mr.  Maxim,  have  convinced  many  intelligent  men 
of  the  practicability  of  aerial  navigation  by  airships  heavier 
than  air.  The  future  success  of  such  navigation  now  awaits 
a  motor  considerably  lighter  than  those  at  present  in  use.  It 
may  be  that  the  successful  experiments  made  by  Professor 
Langley  in  flights  with  his  aeroplane  indicate  that  the  solu- 
tion of  this  interesting  and  important  problem  is  not  far 
distant. 

I  am  firmly  convinced,  however,  that  our  own  experiments 
will  prove,  even  if  we  have  small  opportunity  to  act  in  the 
matter  beyond  the  stage  of  experiment,  that  the  balloon  must 
be  classed  among  the  mightiest  engines  of  war.  Certainly  its 
utility  cannot  be  (piestioned  by  any  one  "who  thoroughly  under- 
stands it.  Our  own  field  train  has  been  in  operation  at  Fort 
Logan,  Col.,  under  the  supervision  of  Capt.  W.  A.  Glassford, 
of  the  Signal  Corps.  The  balloon  is  of  silk,  and  of  14,000 
cubic  feet  capacity.  Then  there  is  a  balloon  wagon,  with 
cable  drum,  captive  cable  and  accessories  complete,  four  tube 
wagons  and  accessories,  one  service  wagon,  a  gas-generating 
apparatus,  a  compressor  for  impounding  gas  in  tubes,  and  180 
steel  tubes  in  which  gas  is  compressed  to  one-hundredth  or 
one-hundred-and-twentieth  of  its  value. 

The  ideal  balloon  for  war  purposes  is  not  simply  one  in 
which  observers  may  rise  to  a  considerable  height,  look  down 
on  the  enemy  and  then  wait  until  a  return  to  earth  is  made  to 
report,  but  one  in  which  constant  communication  can  be  main- 
tained between  the  aeronauts  and  their  friends  below.  This,  of 
course,  is  only  applicable  to  the  captive  balloon,  and  T  do  not 


GEN.  GREELEY  OX  MILITARY  BALLOONS.        215 

intend  to  convey  the  idea  that  it  applies  otherwise.  The  com- 
munication must  be  brought  about  through  a  double  conductor 
insulated  captive  cable,  such  as  that  now  in  use  by  the  English 
balloon  corps.  It  ought  to  be  possible  for  a  balloon  to  rise 
2600  feet  and  for  the  signal  officer  from  this  point  of  vantage  to 
communicate  by  telephone  either  with  the  train  base  or  over 
the  rlying  telegraph  line  with  the  commanding  general.  We 
have  tried  a  series  of  these  experiments  at  Fort  Logan  and  met 
with  pronounced  success. 

I  am  not  attempting  to  deny  in  any  way  the  advantage  of  the 
dirigible  balloon,  meaning  by  that  a  balloon  which  can  be  gov- 
erned, directed  or  steered.  In  event  of  a  desire  to  take  nautical 
observations  from  a  balloon,  dirigibility  would,  of  course,  be 
an  absolute  necessity,  and  in  that  event  we  would  be  obliged 
to  dispense  with  any  communication  with  the  earth  below.  I 
firmly  believe  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  it  will  be  en- 
tirely possible  for  balloons  to  journey  a  dozen  miles  out  at 
sea  with  perfect  safety,  and  act  in  a  measure  as  sentinels  to 
warn  those  on  shore  of  the  aproach  of  an  enemy  long  before 
that  enemy  would  otherwise  be  visible.  No  ship  or  steamer 
could  possibly  return  with  intelligence  of  the  coming  of  the 
foe  with  anything  like  the  speed  with  which  the  balloon  could 
journey. 

In  military  operations  it  seems  to  me  the  captive  balloon  is 
the  most  practicable.  This  was  the  view  taken  at  the  time  of 
the  social  disturbances  in  Chicago  several  years  ago.  The 
commanding  general  at  that  point  requested  that  the  military 
balloon  now  at  Fort  Logan,  then  stationed  at  Fort  Riley. 
Kansas,  should  be  sent  there.  Indeed  preparations  to  that  end 
were  made,  but  the  lessening  of  the  trouble  rendered  the 
action  unnecessary.  -  General  Miles  realized  at  that  time  that 
the  use  of  a  military  captive  balloon  in  a  great  city  would 
afiford  exceptional  advantages  for  observing  the  movements  of 
hostile  forces,  which.^  even  from  the  tops  of  the  highest  build- 
ings, are  otherwise  hidden  from  observation,  save  when  they 
cross  streets  at  right  angles  to  the  point  of  observation. 

With  a  balloon  say  1000  feet  in  the  air.  not  only  the  presence 
but  the  line  of  action  of  such  forces  can  be  observed  and  fol- 


21(J        GEN.   GREELEY   OS     MILITARY   BAIJJXJNS. 

lowed,  and  information  thereof  transmitted  by  telephone  over 
the  balloon  cable  to  the  commanding  general,  who  would  thus 
be  able  to  move,  without  loss  of  time  and  in  the  most  direct 
line,  suitable  bodies  of  troops  to  checkmate  possible  move- 
ments. Under  present  conditions  officials  are  forced  to  wait 
until  reports  of  actual  violence  are  made,  and  the  troops 
harassed  and  fatigued  by  marching  long  distances  to  points 
which  in  the  meantime  are  evacuated,  the  damage  having  been 
done.  I  think  it  is  plain  to  any  one  that  the  utility  of  the  cap- 
tive balloon  in  such  cases  would  be  very  great. 

In  great  measure  the  case  would  be  similar  in  military  opera- 
tions in  the  fieTd.  Let  us  suppose  that  tlie  campaign  was  tak- 
ing place  in  a  wooded,  or  mountainous  section.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  only  information  which  could  be  gained, 
following  the  ordinary  tactics,  would  be  by  means  of  scouting 
parties,  the  most  reliable  of'which  are  always  uncertain.  If  a 
balloon  train  were  attached  to  a  telegraph  corps,  as  it  is  in 
our  army,  the  balloon  could  be  allowed  to  rise  a  distance  of  a 
half  mile,  practically  beyond  reach  of  the  cannon,  owing  to  the 
non-utility  of  artillery  for  bombarding  the  heavens  to  sheel 
the  balloon.  It  is  true  that  it  might  be  possible  for  a  rifle  ball 
to  reach  that  distance,  but  the  chances  of  being  hit  would  be 
very  small,  and  a  properly  protected  balloon  would  be  imper- 
vious to  a  rifle  shot  at  that  height. 

From  this  point  of  vantage,  the  enemy's  lines  and  position 
could  be  observed  in  detail.  Therefore  I  say  that  the  future 
of  the  balloon  in  warfare  is  very  great.  The  obstacles  of  other 
days  have  largely  been  removed,  and  the  paraphernalia  re- 
quired to  successfully  operate  a  balloon  train  can  be  trans- 
ported with  the  army  with  less  trouble  than  it  required  to  move 
a  battery  of  artillery. 


in 

n 

Q. 


CLASSNS    OF    VHUIt^ERlS.  219 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

CLASSES    OF    CRUISERS. 

now   THE  VARIOUS   TYPES   OF   CRUISERS    DIFFER  AND   THE   PUR- 
POSES   FOR    WHICH    THEY    ARE    DESIGNED. 

The  term  cruiser  used  to  apply,  in  the  days  of  sailing  ships, 
to  the  frigates— the  type  next  most  formidable  to  the  old  line 
of  battleships — and  was  intended  to  compass  the  speedier  of 
the  heavy  fighting  craft  delegated  to  the  particular  service  of 
hunting  up  the  enemy  or  preying  upon  his  commerce,  and. 
with  certain  technical  modifications,  practically  all  of  our  large, 
swift,  unarmored  vessels  of  the  late  war  were  so  classified. 
The  gunboat  was  then,  and  now  is,  the  small  vessel  of  moderate 
speed  and  gun  power,  unmarked  for  special  service  by  any 
peculiar  characteristics  of  either  ofifence  or  defence. 

With  us  the  gunboat  has  a  maximum  displacement  or  total 
weight  of  something  just  over  1770  tons  and  a  minimum  of 
839  tons,  the  Castine  and  Machias  representing  the  major  ex- 
treme and  tlie  little  Bancroft  representing  the  minor  extreme. 

Of  the  simple  or  unprotected  cruiser  type  we  have  three — 
the  Detroit,  IMarblehead  and  Montgomery — each  of  a  trifle 
over  2000  tons  displacement.  When  these  vessels  were  first 
designed  they  were  ofificially  known  as  gunboats,  but  the  de- 
partment wisely  saw  that  a  limit  must  be  drawn  somewhere, 
and,  placing  the  gunboat  limit  of  size  to  craft  under  2000  tons, 
the  fhree  vessels  at  once  became  dignified  as  cruisers.  Be- 
sides their  promised  speed  and  their  fulfillment  in  reaching 
over  eighteen  knots  reasonably  made  them  deserving  of  the 
title  in  conjunction  with  their  pretty  heavy  batteries  of  rapid- 
fire  guns. 

The  simple  or  unprotected  cruiser,  in  common  even  with 
gunboats,  has  no  protection  in  the  shape  of  armor  for  her 
"vitals,"  as  her  engines,   her  boilers  and   her  magazines  are 


■220  VLAI^SES    OF    VinjU^ERi<l. 

called.  She  has  a  water-tight  deck,  though,  of  moderate 
plating,  which  extends  from  side  to  side  and  from  bow  to  stern, 
completely  roofing  over  the  "vitals."  While  not  proof  against 
even  moderate  shot,  this  deck  prevents  the  admission  of  water 
below  which  may  come  in  through  breaks  in  the  plating  above 
this  deck,  and  in  that  materially  aids  in  preserving  the  sta- 
bility of  the  craft  if  pierced  by  shell  just  above  the  water  line, 
but  near  enough  to  admit  water  in  careening.  So  far  as  pos- 
sible coal  is  placed  upon  this  deck  and  against  the  sides  as  a 
bulwark  against  the  attack  of  an  enemy,  and  while  the  coal  re- 
mains there  it  forms  a  good  defence  to  guns  ranging  from  one- 
pounders  to  six  pounders.  The  armored  shield  borne  by  some 
of  the  guns  or  the  armor  plates  about  some  of  the  gunports  is 
not  considered  protection  to  the  craft  herself,  and  while  either 
may  be  present  on  a  simple  cruiser  the  fact  that  her  vitals  re- 
main undefended  makes  her  an  unprotected  cruiser. 

The  protected  cruiser  is  the  next  advance  upon  the  simple 
cruiser.  Here,  again,  we  have  a  water-tight  deck,  but  this 
time  it  is  supplemented  with  a  coat  of  mail  and  may  range  on 
the  flat  portion  from  one  inch  to  two  and  one-half  inches,  and 
vary  on  the  slopes  at  the  sides  from  one  and  one-half  to  four 
and  three-quarter  inches.  This  armor  presents  a  deflective 
front  to  shot  passing  through  the  sides  and  threatening  the 
magazines  and  the  motive  power,  and.  of  course,  gives  the 
vessel  the  power  of  standing  up  before  craft  capable  of  dealing 
out  certain  destruction  to  the  simple  cruiser.  Again  the  coal 
is  stowed  along  the  sides  above  and  below  the  water-tight  and 
protective  deck,  and  a  new  defence,  in  the  shape  of  a  band  of 
cellulose,  stands  ready  to  take  the  first  shock  of  attack  and  to 
plug  automatically  by  its  own  swelling  all  shot  holes  admitting 
water.  Of  course,  it  is  not  proof  against  explosive  shell,  which 
may  displace  it  rather  than  merely  pass  through  it. 

Of  the  protected  cruiser  type  the  Olympia  is  by  long  odds 
the  most  typical  vessel  in  our  service.  Aside  from  her  hull 
protection,  the  gims  of  her  main  battery,  four  eight-inch  guns, 
are  mounted  in  two  turrets,  an  all-around  shelter  unequaled 
by  any  ship  of  like  class  and  size  in  the  world,  and  some  no 
tion  of  what  this  and  the  other  phases  of  this  5800-ton  ship's 


CLASSES    OF    CRUISERS.  221 

defensive  qualities  constitute  may  be  gathered  when  it  is  real- 
ized that  she  could  stand  up  and  give  a  good  account  of  her- 
self against  either  the  British  Powerful  or  Terrible — ships  of 
over  14000  tons  displacement. 

The  armored  cruiser  represented  in  our  service  by  the  New 
York  and  Brooklyn  is  the  protected  cruiser  bettered  by  slightly 
heavier  armor  on  her  protective  deck,  slightly  heavier  armor 
about  her  turreted  guns  and  the  presence  of  a  band  of  water- 
line  vertical  armor  and  plating  of  from  three  to  four  inches 
on  her  sides  just  above  this  heavy  belt.  This  water-line  armor 
is  placed  amidships  and  reaches  fore  and  aft  throughout  the 
region  occupied  by  the  vitals.  As  can  be  seen,  the  armored 
cruiser  is  a  larger  and  heavier  protected  version  of  the  pro- 
tected cruiser,  and,  again,  able  to  withstand  blows  that  would 
render  an  unprotected,  or  even  a  protected,  cruiser  defense- 
less in  a  very  short  while.  She  has  great  speed — in  the  case 
of  the  two  vessels  named  fully  twenty-one  knots — and  she  is, 
as  the  old  wooden  frigate  was,  the  next  most  formidable  craft 
to  a  battleship.  In  battle  she  may  take  her  place  in  the  line 
and  bear  with  the  slower,  but  more  powerful,  ships  a  fair  share 
of  the  enemy's  attack,  but  her  special  service  will  be  to  look 
up  the  enemy's  armored  cruisers — not  battleships — or  the 
larger  of  her  protected  cruisers  and  give  battle  with  a  reason- 
able assurance  of  victory. 

The  armored  cruiser  is  the  cavalryman  of  the  sea,  and  to 
them  will  fall  that  service  demanding  dash,  force  and  quick- 
ness of  execution. 

The  protected  cruiser  is  really  the  commerce-destroyer,  and 
is  coated  with  just  enough  mail  to  give  her  a  preponderance 
of  defense  over  the  armed  escort  probably  detailed  to  watch 
over  an  enemy's  merchant  craft.  Swift,  of  considerable  gun 
power,  and  of  great  ease  of  movement,  she  is  indeed  to  be 
dreaded  by  everything  but  craft  of  ample  speed,  fine  protection 
and  good  powers  of  retaliation. 

The  simple  cruiser  falls  in  behind  the  protected  cruiser  in 
the  same  line  of  service,  but  she  must  be  wary  lest  her  quarry 
be  a  merchantman  of  gunpowder  or  be  convoyed  by  a  sturdy 
craft  of  speed  and  superior  battery. 


222  MAXIM    yrA>>'    LP    TO    DATE 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

MAXIM   GUNS  UP  TO  DATE. 

LIGHT  KNOUGH  TO   BE  MOUNTED  WITH   TWO   MEN   ON  A  TRICYCLE 

CAN    BE    CARRIED    BY    A    CAVALRYMAN    IN    A    HOLSTER    OR 

LIKE  A   KNAPSACK   ON   AN    INFANTRYMAN. 

It  will  doubtless  interest  many  during  present  troubles  to 
learn  that  a  number  of  important  improvements  or  modifica- 
tions of  the  celebrated  Maxim  rifle-caliber  gun  have  recently 
been  introduced. 

This  weapon  is  one  of  the  most  murderous  implements  of 
modern  warfare.  Our  huge  rifle  cannon  drive  their  massive 
projectiles  through  plates  of  steel  and  thick  fortress  walls,  but 
the  business  of  this  rapid-fire  machine  gun  is  to  mow  down 
the  men  in  the  ranks. 

Its  action  is  entirely  automatic  when  once  it  is  started.  The 
cartridges  are  placed  in  a  belt  and  are  fed  into  the  gun  with 
almost  incredible  rapidity  by  mechanism  actuated  by  the  re- 
coil of  the  successive  discharges.  The  gunner  has  but  to  press 
a  button,  and  the  weapon  itself  does  the  rest,  though  by  re- 
leasing the  button  at  the  proper  moment  the  action  can  be 
limited  to  a  single  discharge. 

This  terrible  engine  is  capal)le  of  l^elching  furth  from  600  to 
700  rounds  per  minute,  sweeping  the  field  before  it  with  an 
annihilating  blast  of  ])ullcts  before  which  nothing  human  can 
stand. 

The  barrel  is  ordinarily  encased  in  ti  water-jacket  to  prevent 
excessive  heating,  though  this  jacket  is  in  some  cases  omitted 
for  greater  ease  of  transportation. 

The  only  appreciable  pause  in  this  tempest  of  death  is  when 
one  belt  of  cartridges  is  exhausted  and  another  must  l)c  in- 
serted.    Even  to  accomplish  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  turn 


00 

b 
o 
o 


MAXIM    GUNS    VP    TO    DATE.  225 

a  crank,  push  in  the  end  of  the  new  belt  from  the  right  and 
pull  it  through  to  the  left  as  far  as  it  will  go  and  release  the 
crank;  then  another  turn,  pull  and  release,  and  the  gun  is 
again  ready  for  its  dreadful  work.  To  measurably  protect  the 
gunner  during  this  operation  a  shield  of  steel  plate  is  some- 
times provided. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  new  features  is  the  mount- 
ing of  engines  of  this  description  upon  a  tricycle.  Of  course, 
such  a  device  is  available  only  where  the  roads  are  fairly  good. 
Two  guns  are  used,  together  weighing  fifty-four  pounds.  The 
weight  of  the  tripod  is  seventeen  and  one-half  pounds,  and  of 
the  necessary  spare  parts  eight  pounds  more:  the  tricycle  itself 
weighs  121  pounds.  To  this  must  be  added  eighty-seven  and 
one-half  pounds  for  looo  rounds  of  ammunition  carried  in 
boxes,  making  a  total  of  288  pounds— no  trifling  load. 

Nevertheless,  two  vigorous  riders  can  drive  the  apparatus 
at  a  very  good  pace  over  favorable  ground.  When  a  steep  hill 
is  encountered  the  men  dismount  and  push  the  machine  up 
the  slope,  using  it  as  a  hand-carriage.  In  an  open  country 
this  mode  of  mounting  the  Maxim  may  prove  of  considerable 
value. 

Another  form  of  the  gun  has  been  elaborated,  designed  to 
be  transported  by  a  mule  on  a  specially  constructed  pack- 
saddle.  This  is  likely  to  be  particularly  serviceable  in  a  moun- 
tainous district.  By  the  omission  of  the  water-jacket  the  wea- 
pon may  be  made  so  light  that  it  can  be  carried  by  a  cavalry- 
man in  a  holster,  or  even  by  a  foot  soldier  in  a  knapsack.  In 
the  latter  case  the  weight  is  reduced  to  fifty-seven  and  one- 
half  pounds  all  told. 


i22r,  m()Di:rx  surgery  ox  the  fieed. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

MODEUX    SUKGEKV    (iX    Till:    FlELIt. 

bayonets  and  scabbards  as  splints  in  emergency  cases — 

the  duties  of  the  men surgeon-colonel  stevenson 

Writes  of  the  splendid  system  of  relief — to  lessen 

THE     horrors     of     WAR — DISTINGUISHED     SURGEON     TELLS 
HOW  THE   WOUNDED   SOLDIERS  ARE   CARED    FOR   WHILE  THE 

BATTLE    RAGES. 

How  much  depends  on  the  employment  of  efficient  means 
for  afifordmg  assistance  to  the  wounded  in  campaigns  can  only 
be  thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated  by  those  who  have 
had  practical  experience  of  the  horrors  of  war  upon  the  field 
of  battle.  Not  only  the  future  cundition  of  the  victims  of  war, 
as  regards  suffering  and  the  u.sefulness  of  limbs,  but  even  the 
preservation  of  life  itself,  is  involved  in  the  methods  which 
are  made  use  (jf  for  the  collecting  and  succoring  of  the 
wounded. 

The  German  medical  officers  reported,  after  the  war  of  1870- 
'71,  that  large  numbers  of  men  died  in  the  field  hospitals  three 
or  four  days  after  their  admission,  not  so  much  from  the  im- 
mediate effects  of  tlieir  wounds  as  in  consequence  of  the  gen- 
eral exhaustion  of  vitality  foUowhig  on  long  exposure  on  the 
field,  which,  on  some  occasions,  had  been  unavoidable.  For 
the  prevention,  too,  of  the  aggregation  of  the  conditions  of 
the  wounds  themselves,  as  well  as  to  insure  the  possibility  of 
treatment  on  the  lines  of  modern  surgery,  it  is  all-important 
that  wounded  men  be  rapidly  picked  up  and  carried  out  of 
danger  of  further  injury,  to  where  nourishment  can  be  sup- 
plied to  them  and  their  wounds  attended  to. 

Rut,  besides  this,  every  feeling  of  liuinanity  i)ronii)ts  us  to 
aid   the  wf)unded   soldier  at   the  earliest    moment,  and   to  the 


MonHh'X   SURGERY  ()\   THE   FIELD.  227 

utmost  of  our  power,  and  to  place  him  where  he  will  teel  that 
his  comfort  and  his  urgent  requirements  are  certain  to  receive 
that  care  and  attention  so  necessary  to  his  recovery,  and  so 
well  deserved  for  so  strict  an  adherence  to  such  a  duty  as  his. 
carried,  as  he  has  carried  it,  to  the  extent  of  risking  life  itself. 

In  the  armies  of  every  civilized  nation  in  the  world  the  meth- 
ods to  be  employed  for  these  purposes  are,  in  modern  times, 
laid  down  by  regulation,  and  in  all  they  are  based  on  the  same 
general  principles,  with  some  slight  and  unimportant  varia- 
tions necessitated  by  the  circumstances  of  particular  cases. 

In  former  times  no  systematic  methods  for  the  performance 
of  these  important  duties  had  been  decided  on  for  the  English 
army.  Until  the  year  1877  there  was  no  unit  in  the  British 
army  whose  special  business  was  to  collect  and  attend  to  the 
wants  of  the  wounded  men  where  they  fell  upon  the  field. 
Even  at  as  late  a  period  as  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War  the 
only  men  available  for  the  purpose  of  helping  a  wounded  man 
off  the  field  were  the  regimental  bandsmen  or  his  comrades 
in  the  corps  to  which  he  belonged,  and  no  means  could  have 
been  more  inefficient  than  they.  They  had  never  been  taught 
and  knew  nothing  of  how  to  move  and  carry  wounded  men, 
nor.  of  course,  had  they  any  appreciation  of  the  risk  wounded 
men  are  exposed  to  when  moved  by  inexperienced  hands. 
Moreover,  their  comrades  in  the  regiment  had  other  work  on 
hand  and  were  there  for  other  purposes. 

THE   FIRST   BEARER   COMPANY. 

In  the  year  1877  a  committtee,  with  the  late  Sir  Thomas 
Longmore,  Colonel  Brackenbury  and  Major  Kemmis.  R.  A., 
as  members,  was  assembled  m  London  by  the  commander- 
in-chief.  A  scheme  for  a  bearer  com.pany  was  drawn  up  by 
this  committee,  and  this  was  the  model  on  which  the  bearer 
company,  as  at  present  organized,  is  based.  This  bearer  com- 
pany was  first  tried  in  actual  warfare  in  the  Zulu  War  of  1879. 
and  (as  we  learn  from  Longmore,  "On  Gunshot  Wounds")  its 
"operations     were    then    attended    with    ?uch    success — every 


228  MODERN  SURGERY  OX  THE  FIELD. 

man  who  tell  wounded  being  at  once  picked  up  and  carried 
to  the  rear  for  surgical  aid — that  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
War  called  the  attention  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  them, 
especially  to  the  courage  of  the  bearers,  who  kept  close  up  to 
the  attacking  troops,  and  to  the  rapidity  with  which  all  the 
wounded  were  placed  under  hospital  treatment." 

For  purposes  of  description  the  means  for  medical  assist- 
ance of  sick  and  wounded  in  a  campaign,  as  laid  down  by  reg- 
ulation, may  be  divided  into  three  lines: 

The  first  line  of  assistance  is  composed  of  the  regimental 
aid  and  bearer  companies. 

The  second  line  comprises  the  field  hospitals  and  the  sta- 
tionary hospitals  on  the  lines  of  communication,  and  the  third 
line  the  general  hospitals  at  the  base  of  operations,  and  if  the 
base  be  on  a  seaboard,  hospital  ships. 

The  first  line — the  regimental  aid:  When  on  active  service 
every  corps  or  regiment  has  a  medical  officer  attached  to  it 
during  the  campaign:  four  men  per  squadron,  or  two  men  per 
company,  are  trained,  during  peace  time,  in  stretcher-bearer 
work — how  to  lift  and  carry  wounded  men  on  stretchers — and 
in  rendering  "first  aid"  to  wounded  on  the  field.  The  medi- 
cal officer  and  these  trained  stretcher-bearers  form  part  of  the 
first  line  of  medical  assistance,  viz.,  the  "regimental  aid;"  the 
bearer  company  forms  the  other  part. 

A  bearer  company  is  a  body  of  men  composed  of  the  medi- 
cal stafif  corps  and  its  reserves  (including  the  militia  reserves) 
especially  trained  and  practiced  in  affording  first  aid  to 
wounded  men,  placing  them  on  stretchers,  carrying  them  to 
where  surgical  treatment  can  be  given  to  them,  and  in  pack- 
ing them  into  ambulance  wagons  for  conveyance  to  the  field 
hospitals.  It  is  commanded  and  administered  by  officers  of 
the  army  medical  stafif. 

The  personnel  of  a  bearer  company  consists  of  three  officers 
uf  the  army  medical  stafT,  one  warrant  officer,  six  sergeants, 
one  bugler  and  fifty-three  rank  and  file  of  the  medical  staff 
corps.  Of  the  latter  thirty-two  are  stretcher-bearers  for  eight 
stretchers  at  four  men  each,  and  the  remainder  are  corporEils, 
privates,  cooks,  servants,  etc. 


MODERN  tiURGERY  OY   THE  FIELD.  231 

The  transport  of  a  bearer  company  may  be  by  either  "wheel" 
or  "pack."  In  the  former  case  all  the  stores,  baggage,  tents, 
surgical  appliances,  etc.,  are  carried  in  service  wagons  of  dif- 
fere^nt  patterns,  and  in  the  latter  on  pack  mules.  Wheeled 
transport  is  used  where  the  nature  of  the  country  permits 
of  its  employment,  and  pack-mule  transports  under  other  cir- 
cumstances, as  in  mountain  warfare.  When  wheel  transport 
is  available  ten  ambulance  wagons  are  supplied  for  the  carriage 
of  the  wounded,  each  capable  of  accommodating  an  average 
of  nine  men.  some  lying  down  and  some  sitting  up.  When 
only  mule  transport  can  be  used,  cacolets  and  doolies  or 
lushai  "dandies"  are  employed. 

HOW    THE    WORK    IS    DONE. 

The  working  of  the  first  line  of  medical  assistance  on  the 
field  is  carried  out  in  the  following  manner:  The  medical  ofti- 
cers  of  corps,  accompanied  by  the  trained  regimental  bearers 
(twelve  for  a  cavalry  regiment  and  sixteen  for  an  infantry 
regiment),  carrying  one  stretcher  for  every  two  men,  place 
themselves  in  rear  of  the  regiments  to  which  they  belong.  As 
men  fall  wounded  they  are  attended  to  by  the  medical  officer 
as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  for  it  is  impossible  that  he  can 
personally  treat  them  all.  and  carried  to  a  spot  under  cover, 
if  one  be  available  at  a  short  distance:  if  not.  this  first  post  of 
assistance  must  be  established  under  fire  in  the  open  field. 

The  surgical  treatment  at  this  part  of  the  battlefield  must 
necessarily  be  of  the  most  simple  kind,  for  it  is  distinctly  laid 
down  by  regulation  that  the  medical  ofiicer  and  the  bearers 
"must  not  lose  touch  with  their  regiments,"  but  must  keep 
close  to  them,  and  advance  and  change  position  as  they  do. 
The  duties  of  the  "regimental  aid"  are  strictly  confined  to 
those  they  can  perform  under  these  conditions:  The  applica- 
tion of  "first  field  dressings"  (which  every  officer  and  man 
carries  on  his  person)  to  the  apertures  in  the  skin;  the  ren- 
dering of  fractured  limbs  provisionally  immovable,  so  as  to 
prevent  aggravation  of  these  injuries  by  transport,  by  the  use 
of  extemporized  splints,  such  as  swords,  bayonets,  scabbards, 


232  MODERN  SURGERY  ON  THE  FIELD. 

rifles,  sticks,  etc.,  all  of  which  arc  sure  to  be  available;  the 
controlling  of  serious  hemorrhage  by  surgical  means,  and, 
possibly,  the  injection  of  morphia  in  certain  cases. 

Beyond  this  nothing  can  be  attempted,  because  touch  with 
the  regiment  must  be  kept  up.  If,  then,  a  place  under  cover 
be  available  the  wounded  are  carried  there:  if  not,  they  must 
be  left  on  the  field.  In  either  case  they  are  picked  up  later  by 
the  bearer  company. 

The  bearer  company  is,  in  theory,  supposed  to  work  in  rear 
of  the  "regimental  aid."  but  practically  the  two  portions  of 
the  first  line  of  assistance  perform  their  duties  in  the  same 
part  of  the  field,  close  in  rear  of  the  fighting  line. 

The  work  of  a  bearer  company  during  a  battle  is  carried  on 
in  three  sections,  as  it  were,  at  the  "dressing  station,"  at  the 
"collecting  station"  and  by  the  stretcher  squads  in  rear  of  the 
fight.  The  medical  officer  in  command  selects  a  place  under 
cover,  out  of  range,  or  out  of  the  line  of  fire.  Here  the  dress- 
ing station  is  established.  An  operating  tent  is  pitched;  the 
surgical  equipment  of  dressing  materials,  instruments,  ban- 
dages, etc.,  is  opened  out.  Antiseptic  solutions  are  prepared, 
water  is  boiled  and  everything  got  in  readiness  for  the  num- 
erous operations  which  may  be  required  and  for  the  general 
treatment  of  the  wounded  as  soon  as  they  arrive.  Nourishing 
food  is  prepared,  and  for  this  purpose  a  cook  forms  part  of  the 
personnel  at  the  dressing  station.  A  good  water  supply  is 
almost  a  necessity,  but  if  one  cannot  be  obtained  the  water 
cart  of  the  company  must  be  utilized.  All  the  surgical  work 
at  the  dressing  station  is  performed  by  the  surgeon-major  of 
the  bearer  company,  assisted  by  one  of  the  junior  officers. 

The  collecting  station  is  the  place  where  the  wounded  are 
carried  by  the  stretcher  bearers  for  transport  to  the  dressing 
station.  It  should  be  as  near  the  fighting  line  as  possible,  but 
under  cover  or  out  of  the  line  of  fire.  The  sites  for  the  dress- 
ing and  collecting  stations  should  be  so  selected  as  to  have  a 
road  between  them  suitable  for  the  bearer  company  transport 
and  connecting  the  former  with  the  field  hospitals  in  the  rear, 
and  they  should  be  close  together  when  possible,   so  as  to 


MODERN  aVRGBKY  ON   THE  FIELD.  288 

lessen  the  labors  of  the  transport  animals.  At  the  collecting 
station  are  assembled  the  ten  ambulance  wagons  for  the  con- 
veyance of  the  wounded  to  the  dressing  station  and  on  to  the 
f^eld  hospitals.  The  thirty-two  stretcher-bearers,  with  their 
eight  stretchers,  forming  two  stretcher  sections  of  sixteen 
men  and  four  stretchers  each,  under  the  command  of  the  sec- 
ond junior  medical  officer,  set  out  from  the  collecting  station, 
pick  up  the  wounded  left  behind  by  the  regimental  aid,  carry 
them  to  the  collecting  station,  and  having  afforded  such  medi- 
cal treatment  as  may  be  necessary,  load  them  into  the  ambu- 
lance wagons  for  transport  to  the  dressing  station. 

The  surgical  work  at  and  in  front  of  the  collecting  station 
must,  like  that  of  the  regimental  aid.  be  of  the  simplest  kind. 
At  this  part  of  the  f^eld  no  operative  procedures  can  be  at- 
tempted except  the  ligation  of  bleeding  vessels;  fractures  of 
long  bones  should  be  put  up  with  extemporary  splints,  and 
open  wounds  should  be  covered  with  f\rst  field  dressmgs, 
without  being  wiped  or  "cleared"  in  any  way  or  touched  by 
hands  or  instruments.  If  more  than  this  be  done  at  the  front 
infection  of  the  wounds  is  sure  to  occur  and  antiseptic  or  asep- 
tic surgery,  the  great  object  to  be  aimed  at  by  surgeons  m 
warfare,  as  well  as  in  civil  practice,  will  be  rendered  impos- 
sible or  more  difficult  at  the  post  further  to  the  rear. 

AT    THE    DRESSING    STATION. 

The  amount  and  the  kind  of  surgical  work  which  must  be 
performed  at  the  dressing  station  will  largely  depend  on 
whether  or  not  the  field  hospitals  are  up  and  in  their  places. 
If  they  are  close  at  hand  and  ready  for  the  reception  of  pa- 
tients, the  labors  of  the  medical  officers  will  be  considerably 
reduced;  but  if  not,  all  the  primary  surgical  work  of  the  battle 
must  be  done  at  the  dressing  station.  In  either  case  all  the 
wounds  must  be  dressed  and  rendered  aseptic;  a  large  number 
of  primary  operations  will  certainly  be  required;  the  provis- 
ional immobilization  apparatus  already  applied  to  fractured 
limbs  must  be  seen  to  as  to  its  efficiency  for  its  purpose,  and 


234  M()l)i:h'\   SI  h'(;i:RY  o.v  th/-:  FJ1JJJ>. 

stimulants  and  nourishment  must  be  given  to  the  patients  to 
recover  them  from  the  more  or  less  profound  constitutional 
shock  which  is  usually  present.  As  the  patients  are  dressed 
they  are  placed  in  the  ambulance  wagons,  which,  as  they  are 
filled,  are  dispatched  to  the  field  hospitals  in  charge  of  a  cor- 
poral and  a  wagon  orderly. 

The  second  line  of  assistance  is  composed  of  tlie  field  hos- 
pitals and  the  stationary  hospitals  on  the  lines  of  communica- 
tion with  the  base  of  operations.  The  field  hospitals  are 
lightly  equipped,  movable  hospitals,  capable  of  being  easily 
and  rapidly  opened  out  and  packed  up.  They  are  intended 
only  for  the  temporary  treatment  of  one  hundred  patients  each, 
and  are  supplied  with  wheel  or  pack  transport,  as  the  nature 
of  the  country  may  render  advisable.  They  are  divisible  into 
half-hospitals,  each  for  fifty  men.  when  this  may  be  required. 
No  special  hospital  diets  are  supplied  to  them,  the  field  rations, 
cooked  as  the  medical  officers  may  direct,  and  supplemented 
by  such  "extras"  and  "medical  comforts"  as  they  may  order, 
being  used  in  them;  they  are  termed  "non-dieted  hospitals." 
The  bedding  consists  of  a  blanket  and  a  waterproof  sheet  for 
each  patient,  no  bedstead  being  supplied.  When  suitable 
buildings  are  available  these  hospitals  may  be  established  in 
them,  otherwise  the  tents  are  pitched  and  they  should  always 
be  placed  as  near  to  the  dressing  station  as  possible,  so  as  to 
shorten  the  journeys  of  the  ambulances.  There  must  be  an 
ample  water  supply. 

Field  hospitals,  it  must  always  be  remembered,  must  ad- 
vance with  the  divisions  to  which  they  are  attached;  during 
the  active  operations  of  the  troops  they  are  intended  merely 
for  the  temporary  accommodation  of  the  wounded  immedi- 
ately after  a  battle.  A  constant  stream  of  convoys  of  sick  and 
wounded  must,  therefore,  be  kept  up  from  them  toward  tlio 
stationary  hospitals  on  the  lines  of  communication  and  tlic 
base.  When  an  engagement  is  imminent,  the  field  hospitals 
must  be  emptied,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  move  forward  and  re- 
ceive the  wounded  from  the  battle  field;  and  when  this  is  im- 
possible in  the  case  of  any  particular  hospital  in  consequence 
of  the  serious  nature  of  the  cases  occupying  it,  it  must  be  leV 


en 


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MODERX  SLKGERY  OX  THE  FIELD.  237 

behind  to  become  itself  a  hospital  on  the  lines  of  communica- 
tion and  an  empty  hospital  sent  forward  to  take  its  place. 

During  and  immediately  after  a  great  battle  the  press  work 
in  a  f^.eld  hospital  is  usually  very  great.  Large  numbers  of 
wounded  men  requiring  immediate  attention  arrive  almost 
simultaneously.  Food  must  be  given  to  them,  many  primary 
operations  must  be  performed,  fractures  must  be  got  into  posi- 
tion and  rendered  immovable,  wounds  must  be  rendered  asep- 
tic and  dressed — in  a  word,  all  the  surgical  necessities  of  per- 
haps a  hundred  men.  some  of  them  slightly  and  some  of  them 
terribly  injured,  will  require  instant  consideration  and  treat- 
ment. These  are  not  in  modern  times  procedures  which  can 
be  hurriedly  performed,  nor  in  a  perfunctory  manner;  on  the 
contrary,  they  require,  to  achieve  the  successful  results  ob-' 
tained  by  scientific  surgery,  almost  the  same  nicety  of  manipu- 
lation and  care  in  detail  which  the  bacteriologist  expends  on 
his  experiments  in  the  laboratory.  Failure  in  the  laboratory 
means  only  the  waste  of  an  experiment,  but  failure  to  keep  in- 
fection from  a  wound  or  to  render  it  harmless  if  it  be  present 
means  pain  and  suffering  from  surgical  infective  diseases,  loss 
of  limbs,  and  in  many  cases,  of  life  itself. 

THE    STATION.^RY    HOSPITAL. 

The  stationary  hospitals  on  the  lines  of  communication  are 
more  permanent  and  better  equipped  establishments  than  those 
just  described.  They  are  "dieted  hospitals;"  that  is,  the  pa- 
tients in  them  are  fed,  as  closely  as  may  be,  according  to  the 
usual  hospital  diet  scale.  They  are  intended  for  the  reception 
of  200  men,  and  stretchers,  to  be  used  as  bedsteads,  are  sup- 
plied for  this  number.  Patients  can  be  treated  in  them  until 
such  time  as  they  are  sufficiently  recovered  to  bear  the  journey 
toward  the  base  of  operations  without  risk.  They  should  be 
established  in  buildings  if  possible,  but  if  none  are  available, 
tents  are  supplied. 

The  number  of  these  hospitals  which  will  be  required  on  any 
particular  campaign  depends  naturally  on  the  distance  the 
troops  advance  into  the  country;  on.  in  fact,  the  length  of  the 


238  MODERN  tiURGlJh'Y  O.V   THE  FIELD. 

lines  of  communication  and  on  the  character  of  the  roads  and 
means  of  transport  from  the  front  to  the  base.  If  a  railway 
be  available,  if  the  roads  be  good,  or  if  a  waterway  can  be  used, 
fewer  of  them  will  be  necessary.  In  any  case  they  should  be 
placed  as  near  to  the  lines  on  which  the  sick  convoys  travel  as 
possible. 

The  third  line  of  medical  assistance  in  a  campaign  consists 
of  the  general  hospital  at  the  base  and  hospital  ships. 

The  general  hospitals  at  the  base  of  operations  are  as  fully 
equipped  as  the  similar  institutions  at  home,  and  they  are  ad- 
ministered on  the  same  lines.  They  accommodate  either  400 
or  500  men.  To  each  is  attached  a  military  depot.  Patients 
are  treated  in  them  until  sufficiently  recovered  to  be  discharged 
to  the  military  depots,  whence  they  are  sent  to  rejoin  their 
corps  at  the  front,  or  if  unlikely  to  be  able  to  take  any  further 
part  in  the  campaign,  they  are  invalided  for  disposal  as  per- 
manently unfit  for  service  or  for  further  treatment.  As  many 
of  the  hospitals  as  the  number  of  sick  and  wounded  coming 
from  the  front  require  are  opened  at  the  base. 

Hospital  ships  are  established  at  places  where  the  situation 
of  the  base  of  operations  renders  it  possible,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  campaign  make  it  advisable  that  they  should  be 
employed.  They  are  supplementary  to  the  general  hospitals  at 
the  base,  and  are  as  perfectly  equipped  as  station  hospitals  at 
home.  They  accommodate  200  men,  with  additional  spare  cots 
for  emergencies.  In  connection  with  them  steamships  are 
employed  for  taking  bad  cases  home  or  elsewhere;  these 
are  specially  fitted  for  the  reception  and  treatment  of  sick  and 
wounded  men. 

Two  medical  store  depots  are  established  in  most  cam- 
paign;.; one  at  the  base  and  one  at  the  front  near  the  most 
advanced  stationary  field  hospital.  The  regimental  medical 
ofificers,  the  bearer  companies  and  the  field  hospitals  replenish 
their  supplies  of  drugs,  surgical  materials  and  instruments 
from  ihe  advanced  medical  store  depot,  and  the  latter  is  itself 
kept  fully  equipped  from  the  one  at  the  base,  which  receives 
its  supplies  direct  from  home. 

All  the  nursing  duties  in  the  field  hospitals  are  performed 


MODERN  tiURGERY  ON  THE  FIELD.  239 

by  the  men  of  the  medical  staff  corps,  while  at  the  base  hos- 
pitals and  in  the  hospital  ships,  the  ladies  of  the  army  nursing 
service  are  employed  as  well. 

The  above,  although  a  mere  sketch  of  the  medical  arrange- 
ments laid  down  by  regulation,  will  supply  a  fairly  accurate 
idea  of  the  means  which  are  employed  in  warfare  for  the  care 
and  treatment  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  The  regulations  of 
the  medical  services  give  concise  instructions  as  to  how  every- 
thing should  be  done.  But  rules  must  be  made  to  give  way 
to  circumstances  and  regulations  cannot,  and  need  not.  be  too 
rigidly  adhered  to  when  other  methods  of  arrangement  and 
distribution  seem  likely  to  produce  better  results. 


240     MEN  IN  THE   TURRETi^   BEHIND    THE   GUNSr. 


CHAPTER     XXVI. 
THE   MEN   IN   THE   TURRET   BEHIND   THE   GUNS. 

HOW  IT  LOOKS  INSIDE  THE  FORWARD  TURRET  BEHIND  THE 
EIGHT-INCH  GUNS — "LOAD!"  "POINt!"  "fIRe!"  'SPONGe!" 
— THE  WONDERFUL  STORY  OF  THE  EIGHT-INCH  GUNS  AT 
MANILA. 

In  the  forward  turret  of  Admiral  Dewey's  flagship  Olympia, 
ill  the  harbor  of  Manila,  at  dawn  on  Sunday  morning,  May  i, 
1898,  stood  twelve  Yankee  gunners. 

Twelve  gallant  Americans  trained  the  two  eight-inch  guns, 
now  upon  this  Spanish  armor  clad,  now  on  that,  and  again  on 
the  forts  at  Cavite. 

With  the  precision  of  a  machine,  the  twelve  men  during  that 
terrific  hour  and  a-half's  engagement  bent  to  their  work,  load- 
ing, sighting,  aiming  and  firing  again  and  again.  The  roar  of 
the  guns  and  the  crash  of  the  enemy's  shells  on  the  steel  walls 
of  the  turret  did  not  Interfere  in  the  slightest  with  the  business 
in  hand,  as  with  clock-like  regularity  they  got  those  death- 
dealing  eight-inch  terrors  into  shape  to  tear  a  hole  in  a  Spanish 
hull  or  break  through  a  Cavite  wall. 

Like  the  awakening  of  some  angry  monster  striving  only  to 
lay  waste,  the  guns  poured  shot  after  shot  from  the  revolving 
turret,  and  the  twelve  half-stripped  men  peered  through  the 
portholes  as  the  steel  projectiles  of  death  screeched  across 
Manila  bay. 

As  an  example  of  magnificent  discipline  and  machine-like 
obedience  to  duty  in  the  face  of  death,  there  is  nothing  to 
compare  with  the  men  behind  the  guns  in  a  modern  fight  be- 
tween ironclads,  such  as  the  historic  battle  of  Manila  bay. 

When  an  ironclad  like  the  Olympia  goes  irito  action  the 
order  comes  sharp  and  barking:  "Muster  the  crew."  The 
gunners  on  the  Olympia,  twelve  in  each  turret,  six  for  each 


MEN  IN  THE   TURRETS   BEHIND    THE   GUNS.     243 

gun.  fall  in  position  in  response  to  their  numbers,  called  out 
by  the  captain  of  each  crew,  and  stand  rigid  and  ready  for 
whatever  order  may  come. 

Each  man  knows  his  place,  knows  what  is  expected  of  him. 
fully  comprehends  his  responsibility,  and.  perhaps,  his  eyes 
sweep  the  deck  in  farewell.  There  are  five  chances  in  ten  that 
he  will  enter  the  turret  to  die.  But  a  death  like  that  makes 
history.  His  passing  will  be  under  the  flag,  honorable  and  on 
duty,  and  he  waits  the  next  command. 

At  each  gun  there  is  a  captain,  a  plugman.  a  loader,  a 
spouger.  a  liftman  and  a  shellman.  Their  separate  duties  are 
clearly  defined.  They  have  been  drilled  to  fight,  if  necessary 
to  die.  If  one  of  them  drops  at  his  post,  another,  without  a 
murmur,  takes  his  place.  The  twelve  men  in  the  turret  are 
like  so  many  automatons. 

At  the  battle  of  Manila  that  forward  turret  on  Admiral 
Dewey's  flagship  Olympia.  smoking  and  gleaming  with  the 
glare  of  war.  demolished  the  ironclads  of  Spain  and  sent  them 
floundering  and  on  fire  into  the  sea. 

It  was  the  hour  or  retri])Ution.  the  day  lor  which  the  men  in 
the  turret  had  waited  patiently.  The  order  to  "Muster  the 
crew"  came  to  these  men  like  a  benediction,  and  the  reckon- 
ing with  Spain  was  at  hand. 

"Two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven, 
twelve."  sang  out  the  turret  captain,  who  is  No.  i  of  the  crew, 
and  in  less  than  a  minute  the  two  guns  of  the  Olympia's  for- 
ward turret  were  manned. 

"Silence,"  rang  out  the  command  through  the  still  morning 
air.  and  the  crew  faced  the  guns  voiceless  and  attentive. 

For  a  second  or  two  the  men,  stripped  to  the  waist,  stood 
mute,  straining  to  catch  the  next  order. 

"Cast  loose  and  provide,"  commanded  the  division  oflftcer, 
and  in  an  instant  the  captains  ot  the  gun  crews  on  the  star- 
board and  port  guns  began  a  rapid  inspection  of  the  mechan- 
ism of  the  guns.  Skilful  fingers  opened  the  breech,  the  loader 
and  sponger  hastened  to  see  that  the  elevator  gear  for  hoisting 
ammunition  out  of  the  magazines  was  clear;  to  cast  ofif  the 
lashings,  place  them  amidships  out  of  the  way:  to  open  the 


244     ME:S!  in   the    TURRETS   BEHIND    THE   GUNS. 

ports,  to  see  that  the  loading  tray  was  in  place,  and  to  remove 
the  wooden  plug  and  the  muzzle  bag  from  the  muzzle  of  the 
gun  with  a  steel  lanyard. 

Each  crew  captain  took  the  firing  lock  from  its  case,  pre- 
pared it  for  use,  placed  the  rear  sights,  removed  the  covers, 
saw  that  the  priming  wires  and  minor  appliances  were  in  place, 
provided  himself  with  primers,  closed  the  breech  after  the 
sponger  had  performed  his  duty  and  reported  to  the  division 
officer  that  all  was  ready. 

The  plugman,  loader,  sponger,  liftman  and  shellman  ar- 
ranged their  materials  for  action  and  fixed  the  paraphernalia 
necessary  for  quick  work  in  their  appointed  places.  Sponges, 
tubs,  swabs,  cutlasses,  revolvers  and  rifles  were  racked  within 
reach,  and  the  belts  for  smaller  ammunition  were  hung  at 
arms'  length. 

The  instant  the  order  to  "cast  loose  and  provide"  was  exe- 
cuted, each  man  returned  to  the  position  occupied  when  the 
order  of  "silence"  was  given. 

The  powder  tank  was  brought  up  and  the  captain  having  in- 
spected the  fuse  and  the  primer,  all  was  ready  for  the  order  to 
"load."  This  order  was  instantly  followed  by  No.  9  and  10, 
hauling  up  the  projectile  and  placing  it  on  the  loading  tray. 
No.  5  pushed  it  home,  assisted  if  necessary  by  No.  6.  while  9 
and  ID  went  for  another  projectile.  The  powder  charge  was 
then  taken  from  the  tank,  the  cartride  placed  in  the  tray  and 
shoved  home  by  hand. 

The  gas  check  and  screw  lock  were  wiped  off,  and  No.  2 
closed  the  breech.  The  captain  inserted  the  primer,  hooked 
the  lock  lanyard  first  and  then  full  cocked  the  lock. 

"Point!"  came  the  command  from  the  division  officer.  The 
gunner's  crew  was  in  position  and  the  great  gun  was  ready  to 
send  its  message  of  death  at  the  enemy  as  soon  as  the  muzzle 
was  properly  trained  on  the  Spanish  ship.  The  man  at  the 
sights  had  an  excellent  eye,  good  calculation  and  a  cool  head. 
On  a  fighting  ship  he  may  be  one  of  the  most  obscure  men  on 
the  ship,  but  his  superior  marksmanship  is  always  recognized 
by  every  one.  It  is  one  of  the  most  responsible  positions  in 
the  ship,  and  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  captain  an  enlisted  man  is 


MEN  IN  THE    TURRETS   BEHIND   THE   GUNS.     245 

a  better  pointer  than  an  officer  his  services  are  brought  into 

play  at  once. 

At  the  order  "Commence  firing,"  the  captam  pulled  the  lock 
lanyard  and  the  eight-inch  gun  vomited  forth  its  thunderbolt 
of  steel  weighing  250  pounds. 

It  was  with  such  cool  and  calculated  deliberation,  but  far 
more  quickly  than  is  here  described,  that  the  shots  began  to 
pour  from  the  turrets.  Each  of  the  eight-inch  guns  can  dis- 
charge three  shots  a  minute. 

Meanwhile  the  smoke  of  battle  began  to  curl  from  the  port- 
holes and  swirl  skyward  in  the  fighting  tops,  where  the  deadly 
Hotchkiss  six-pounders  sing  the  de.ath  song  for  a  radms  of    • 

two  miles. 

At  Manila  the  forward  turret  of  the  Olympia  blazed  out  its 
six  shots  a  minute  from  the  port  and  starboard  guns,  and  the 
great  ship  rocking  on  the  swell  rose  and  fell  as  the  skilful 
gunners  fired  eight-inch  armor-piercing  projectiles  and  shrap- 
nel from  the  ports. 

In  the  circular  steel  chamber  the  smoke  and  powder-laden 
atmosphere  wrapped  the  men  in  mist,  but  the  orders  "Sponge!" 
"Load!"  "Point!"  rose  in  measured  cadence  above  the  din  of 
battle,  and  the  shafts  of  fire  leaped  screaming  at  the  Spanish 
lieet  surging  a  thunderous  farewell  that  crashed  through  the 
trembling  ships  of  Queen  Christina  and  blew  their  decks  into 
showers  of  splintered  wood  and  iron. 

Slowly  the  flagship  of  the  intrepid  Dewey  circled  the  harbor, 
while  the  forward  turret  continued  its  melting  fire  without 
interruption. 

With  each  shot  the  great  Olympia  shook  from  stem  to  stern, 
while  from  the  bridge  Admiral  Dewey  looked  down  upon  the 
men  in  the  forward  turret  and  gave  his  commands  to  the 
officers  in  ringing  tones.  He  was  directing  a  bombardment 
and  a  naval  engagement  that  every  tar  on  board  had  prayed  for 
since  the  Maine  sank  to  her  death  in  Havana  harbor. 

For  two  hours  the  American  fleet  had  poured  its  broadsides 
into  the  Spanish  ships  and  Manila,  and  not  a  murmur  came 
from  the  half-scorched,  stifled  gunners  in  the  forward  turret. 
Ship  after  ship  of  the  Spanish  fleet  halted  in  her  fire,  trem- 


•jAc,    Mi:\  i\  Till-:  Ti  L'h'irrs  i!i:iii\n  riii:  f/r.vx. 

bled  to  the  water's  edge  and  tlien  listed  like  a  wouiukHl  whale 
before  sinkinj^'.  'i'lie  Idaek'.  snuidt;ed  laces  of  the  ti^unners 
peered  through  the  turret  openings  at  intervals  and  sought  out 
the  shattered  cruisers  and  battleshii)s  that  were  luml)ering 
helplessly  in  the  trough  of  the  sea. 

At  the  end  dI'  an  hour  and  a-half  the  liring  from  the  ships 
of  Castile  grew  visibly  less,  and  fire  and  smoke  rose  from  the 
decks  of  fighting  machines  that  an  hour  before  had  swarmed 
with  gesticulating,  frenzied  Siianiards,  desperate  at  the  chaotic 
scenes  of  blood  and  misery  around  them. 

Protected  cruisers  that  deser\ed  a  better  fate  blew  up  when 
the  flames  reached  their  magazines  and  went  down  in  a  hissing 
sea,  scorching  and  blistering  the  men  who  sank  with  them. 

At  the  end  of  two  hours  the  order  to  "Cease  firing!"  was 
given  by  the  division  officer,  and  the  twelve  men  in  the  forward 
turret  of  the  Olympia  at  Manila  that  Sunday  morning  crawled 
out  of  their  hell,  and.  leaning  with  their  bare  arms  on  the  tur- 
ret to]),  swe])t  the  scene  of  Spain's  ruin  from  hall-shut  eyes. 
The  sea  had  become  calm  again,  and  the  waves  curled  and 
si)lashed  o\-er  the  hulks  of  a  score  of  vessels  that  but  a  few 
hours  before  guarded  the  people  and  the  capital  of  the  Philip- 
pines. 


JititLaUiJf!, 


CARRIER  PIGEOS  SERVICE  OF  THE  NAYY.       249 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

CARRIER  PIGEON  SERVICE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY. 

In  the  present  emergency,  no  more  efficient  corps  has  been 
placed  at  the  service  of  the  navy  than  the  flights  of  carrier 
pigeons  which  are  now  at  the  disposal  of  Secretary  Long. 
For  two  years  the  Naval  Academy  has  been  experimenting  with 
carrier  pigeons  as  messengers,  with  remarkable  success,  and 
now  that  there  is  need  for  the  pigeons,  it  is  found  that  the 
navy  has  at  its  disposal  500  of  the  fleetest  little  messengers  ever 
placed  at  the  call  of  a  country. 

The  organization  of  a  carrier  pigeon  service  for  use  in  time 
of  war  began  with  Professor  Marion,  of  the  Naval  Academy. 
Lieutenant  Harlow,  U.  S.  N.,  also  began  active  experiments 
with  the  birds  some  years  ago,  and  to  these  two  gentlemen  is 
due  the  credit  which  now  attaches  itself  to  the  pigeon  service 

of  the  army. 

An  arrangement  has  been  made  by  which  the  Lighthouse 
Board  will  co-operate  with  the  Navy  Department  in  establish- 
ing and  maintaining  a  system  of  coast-line  signal  stations,  in- 
cluding homing  pigeon  lofts  and  all  the  equipment,  for  com- 
municating for  long  and  short  distances  on  the  seaboard  from 
Maine  to  the  Pacific  coast.  Ships  of  the  navy  cruising  within 
certain  fixed  distances  may  thus  communicate  with  the  shore 
and  warn  coast  cities  of  approaching  danger.  The  War  De- 
partment has  ordered  3000  carrier  pigeons  to  be  put  in  train- 
ing at  once.     Philadelphia  will  furnish  most  of  them. 

What  makes  the  homing  pigeon  so  valuable  as  a  carrier  of 
messages  is  the  fact  that  it  combines  a  marvelous  faculty  of 
immediately  getting  its  bearings,  no  matter  how  far  it  may 
be  taken  from  home,  with  a  physical  development  which  en- 
ables it  to  cover  great  distances. 

The  pigeons  may  be  depended  on  to  cover  distances  of  fully 


iMu     cAh'L'ii.ii  i'i<;i:()\  si:ini('i-:  or  'nil-:  .vin. 

200  miles  air  line  with  great  speed.  From  very  great  distances, 
500  miles  or  more,  the  birds  arc  at  a  great  disadvantage,  inas- 
inucli  as  they  are  forced  to  forage  for  themselves,  which  they 
are  not  trained  to  do. 

There  are  birds  in  this  country  that  have  homed  from  614 
miles  air  line  the  day  ihcy  slart,  making  an  average  speed  of 
1,309  yards  per  minute.  Tl  v:re  are  also  a  few  pigeons  in  the 
United  States  that  have  covered  more  than  1000  miles,  the 
extreme  distiuice  covered  being  i_'i2  miles. 

With  a  well-equipped  pigeon  service  in  time  of  war,  a  gov- 
ernment conducting  war  upon  its  own  territory  or  upon  a  ter- 
ritory not  too  far  removed,  is  independent  of  telegraph  and 
telephone  systems,  and  can  at  com]")arati\e]y  litile  cost  main- 
tain regular  com.munication  with  its  land  and  water  forces. 

Messages  carried  by  the  Navy  Department  pigeons  are  writ- 
ten on  the  thinnest  rice  paper,  incased  in  a  liny  aluminum 
holder,  capsule  shape,  fastened  to  the  bird's  leg.  Professor 
Marion.  <jf  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy,  is  the  inventor  of 
this  message-holder,  which  is  water-tight  and  weighs  only 
eight  grams. 

Pigeons  used  in  carrying  dispatches  upon  the  ocean  are 
trained  up  and  down  the  coast  for  about  100  miles  each  way 
from  home.  Trainmg"  on  the  coast  has  a  double  purpose — 
accustoming  the  birds  to  their  baskets  and  getting  them  used 
to  being  tossed,  as  well  as  making  them  familiar  with  the 
coast.  When  birds  are  liberated  at  sea,  upon  sighting  land 
they  will  start  for  it  at  once,  striking  the  shore  at  the  nearest 
jioint.  Having  once  reached  land,  they  will  proceed  home  by 
the  nearest  overland  route. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  incidents  illustrating  the  mem- 
ory of  a  homing  i)igeon  was  that  of  a  bird  ca])tured  during 
the  [•"ranco-Prussian  War,  which,  ;ifter  being  kept  in  confine- 
ment for  ten  years,  immediately  returned  to  its  home  n])on 
being  set  free. 

A  pigeoti  imported  from  a  loft  in  P.elginm  by  a  New  Jersey 
faTicier  was  recently  set  at  liberty.  Two  days  later  the  bird 
was  picked  uj)  at  sea  I)el\veen  .400  and  300  miles  from  the  coast. 


VARKiiiii  i'i<;i:(>\  si:h'\  ICI-:  or  nil-:  xavy.     sa 

The  latitude  and  longitude  were  noted,  and  showed  the  pigeon 
to  be  upon  the  riglit  course  tor  home  in  Belgium. 

For  two  years  the  most  active  training  has  been  going  on, 
and  a  cote  at  Key  West  was  established  and  Lieutenant  Har- 
low was  placed  in  command  of  it.  As  soon  as  active  hostilities 
JM-oke  out  between  this  country  and  Spain  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment made  in(|uiries  about  the  pigeon  service  and  found  that 
a  large  number  ol  rapid,  accurate  pigeons  could  be  placed  at 
its  disposal.  The  birds  were  taken  to  Key  West,  which  is  only 
ninety  miles  from  Havana,  and  located  in  Lieutenant  Harlow',- 
cote  there.  They  have  l)een  taken  out  from  this  cote  to  sea 
and  released  time  and  again  within  the  last  few  weeks,  and 
always  with  the  greatest  success.  Scarcely  ever  has  a  pigeon 
failed  to  return  to  its  home. 

In  the  torpedo  flotilla  which  is  now  being  eiiuipped  to  match 
Spain's  flotilla,  there  have  been  measures  provided  on  every 
boat  for  the  accommodation  of  the  carrier  pigeon.  When  the 
flotilla  starts  out  it  will  take  with  it  many  of  these  winged 
messengers. 

The  value  of  the  pigeons  in  time  of  blockade  is  great,  as  the 
Naval  Department  can  be  notified  of  the  blockade  and  can  send 
ships  to  the  relief  of  those  in  distress.  A  scout  boat  in  the 
Gulf  with  a  pigeon  service  is  even  of  more  value.  The  scout 
ship  can  communicate  with  the  Navy  Department  within  an 
almost  incredible  space  of  time,  and  the  navy  can  thus  be  kept 
in  constant  acquaintance  with  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 

When  the  Spanish  torpedo  flotilla  of  hornets  set  sail  from 
the  Canary  Isles  in  May,  1898.  the  news  was  made  known  to 
the  Navy  Department  by  means  of  the  carrier  pigeon  "Swift,' 
which  was  released  from  the  scout  boat,  lying  off  the  Canary 
Isles.  At  the  same  time  the  news  was  cabled  to  Madrid,  to 
Key  West  and  to  Washington,  but  the  first  intelligence  was 
received  through  the  pigeon. 

So  highly  does  France  estimate  the  value  of  pigeons  in  case 
of  war,  that  it  recently  passed  a  law  that  homing  pigeons  from 
other  countries  should  not  be  admitted  to  France  except  under 
the  strictest  conditions.  The  French  army  and  navy  authori- 
ties realize  that  in  case  of  war  these  pigeons  could  be  released 


252       CARRIER  PIGEON  SERVICE  OF  THE  NAVY. 

and  could  carry  to  the  opposing  country  correct  news  of  the 
doings  in  France.  It  will  therefore  not  allow  any  trained  for- 
eign pigeons  to  become  residents  of  France. 

The  instinct  of  the  homing  pigeon  is  always  for  home.  You 
may  take  it  away  and  keep  it  for  six  months,  yet  on  its  release 
it  will  fly  up  into  the  air,  circle  round  and  round  for  a  moment, 
then  dart  in  the  direction  of  its  own  home.     That  is  instinct. 

Scientists  claim  that  there  is  nothing  wonderful  in  the  in- 
stinct of  the  homing  pigeon.  They  say  that  the  pigeon  flies 
high  enough  to  get  a  view  of  the  landscape,  and  that  it  has  an 
eyesight  which  is  phenomenally  powerful  in  proportion  to  its 
size.  When  it  reaches  a  sufficient  height  it  takes  in  the  situa- 
tion, and,  seeing  its  familiar  shores  in  the  distance,  darts  rapidly 
in  that  direction.     In  this  way  it  can  regain  its  home. 

Should  the  pigeon  at  times  be  mistaken  and  fly  slightly  out 
of  its  course,  it  will  alter  its  flight  and  reach  its  home  unerr- 
ingly if  given  the  proper  time. 

Take  the  case  of  the  Andree  pigeon  which  made  a  long  trip 
from  the  balloon.  It  was  shot  while  resting  on  a  vessel.  The 
bird  had  traveled  120  miles  from  Andree's  balloon  toward 
Stockholm,  then  seeing  no  land,  had  turned  and  came  twenty- 
four  miles  north  again.  Naturally  exhausted,  it  sank  to  rest 
upon  the  stafif  of  a  vessel  and  was  so  tired  that  it  put  its  head 
under  its  wing.  Fearing  that  it  would  fly  if  disturbed,  a  sailor 
shot  the  bird,  took  it  up  out  of  the  water  and  read  the  message 
under  its  wing.  The  fancier  who  trained  the  bird  said  that  it 
flew  twenty-four  miles  to  rest  on  the  vessel,  but  after  resting  it 
would  have  retraced  its  course  toward  Stockholm. 

In  the  regular  pigeon  stations  connected  with  the  army  and 
government  there  are  provisions  made  for  the  reception  of  the 
pigeons.  A  homing  pigeon  may  arrive  home  at  night  or  day. 
When  released  it  makes  a  flight  for  its.  home,  and  rests  only  in 
the  darkest  hours.  In  one  of  the  stations  there  is  a  mechanism 
hy  which  a  bird  may  fly  in,  but  after  once  in  it  is  a  captive.  A 
l)ell  rings  in  the  captain's  ofifice  telling  him  of  the  return  of 
the  messenger.  These  stations  are  now  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
Key  West,  Fla.,  and  Mare  Island,  Cal. 
The  hardships  which  these  birds  will  unflinchingly  face  in 


•.^■■.>.  ' 


;.lfjfi|,fiii)l 


[;^.v#y*P!itif^i|/ 


CARRIER  VKIEOS  SKRVH'i:  OF  THE  l^ATY.       255 

returning  to  their  homes  can  hardly  be  appreciated  by  those 
not  familiar  with  their  characteristics.  Cases  are  ciied  where 
birds  so  badly  shot  or  torn  by  hawks  as  to  be  rendered  almost 
helpless  have  struggled  on  until  home  was  reached. 

General  Miles  and  Admiral  Sampson  at  their  headquarters, 
.-ishore  or  afloat,  with  a  basket  of  well-trained  homing  pigeons 
l)olonging  to  a  government  coop  at  Key  West,  would  be  per- 
fectly independent  of  the  cable  as  a  means  of  quick  communi- 
cation with  Washington. 


l>5(i  OLD-TIME    VANNoy    AND    M:\V. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
OLD-TIME    CANNON    AND    NEW. 

RECENT  MARVELOUS  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NAVAL  ARMAMENTS — 
FIRST  USE  OF  CANNON  IN  WAR — SUBSTITUTION  OF  IRON 
AND  STEEL  PROJECTILES  FOR  STONE  SHOT — INTRODUCTION 
OF  SIGHTS  AND  RIFLING — HOW  MODERN  RIFLED  CANNON 
ARE  CONSTRUCTED — METHOD  OF  SECURELY  MOUNTING 
THEM  ON  SHIPBOARD — SUPERIORITY  IN  RANGE,  ACCURACY 
AND  PENETRATION  OF  MODERN  GUNS  OVER  OLD  SMOOTH- 
BORES— SOME    INTERESTING    COMPARISONS. 

Cannon  were  used  for  the  first  time  in  war  probably  at  the 
siege  of  Quesnoy,  France,  in  1340.  At  the  siege  of  Calais,  in 
1347,  Edward  III,  of  England,  is  known  to  have  used  cannon, 
but  how  different  these  cannon  were  from  the  modern,  high- 
powered  gun  of  the  present  day  may  be  appreciated  when  it  is 
said  that  three  or  four  ounces  constituted  the  daily  allowance 
of  powder  then,  and  the  supply  of  projectiles  consisted  of  204 
lead  shot  and  twelve  small  pieces  of  lead  for  a  battery  of  twenty 
cannon!  Toward  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  cannon 
came  into  use  at  sea.  At  first  only  galleys  were  armed  with 
tiicm,  but  a  little  later  sailing  vessels  were  equipped  with 
"bombards,"  cannon  of  small  caliber,  mounted  on  deck  and 
firing  stone  shot  over  the  rails.  In  the  year  1350,  in  a  sea 
fight,  the  Moors  of  Seville  used  cannon  against  the  Moors  of 
Tunis,  and  in  1387,  for  the  first  time,  the  English  and  French 
fought  at  sea  with  guns. 

Early  in  the  fifteenth  century  gun  ports  were  invented,  and 
soon  the  sides  of  ships  began  to  bristle  with  cannon.  From 
specimens  which  are  still  in  existence  we  learn  that  these  early 
cannon  were  either  built  up  of  wrought  iron  or  cast  in  brass. 
They  were  not  infrequently  of  immense  size  and  length,  and 


OLD-TIME    CAXXOX    AND    NEW.  257 

even  in  those  crude  times  a  breech-loading  system  was  in 
vogue.  And  in  those  days  cannon  makers  recognized  the  fact 
that  the  great  strain  came  on  the  breech,  for  in  a  cannon  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  VI  of  England  a  bronze  cylinder  was  in- 
serted in  the  breech  of  a  wrought-iron  gun  to  strengthen  the 
chamber. 

The  cannon  of  Mahomet  II,  which  were  used  in  reducing 
the  Byzantine  city,  now  known  as  Constantinople,  were  con- 
structed in  1453,  were  of  cast  brass  and  hurled  a  stone  projec- 
tile over  600  pounds  in  weight.  The  historian.  Gibbon,  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  statement  that  "by  using  the  utmost  expedi- 
tion this  great  cannon  could  be  loaded  and  fired  no  more  than 
seven  times  a  day."  It  would  seem  that  these  cannon,  which 
were  used  in  the  siege  of  Constantinople,  were  of  about  the 
same  size  as  our  modern  lo-inch  guns,  though  they  did  not,  of 
course,  possess  anything  like  the  accuracy,  range  or  penetra- 
tion. Yet  even  larger  cannon  than  these,  cannon  firing  stone 
balls  of  1 100  pounds  weight,  are  still  to  be  seen  by  travelers  on 
the  coast  of  the  Dardanelles. 

The  wrought-iron  cannon  in  Edinburgh  Castle  was  used  at 
the  siege  of  Dumbarton  Castle  in  1489,  and  was  fired  as  late 
as  1682.  It  has  a  caliber  of  twenty  inches,  yet  fired  a  granite 
shot  weighing  only  330  pounds.  Such  a  projectile  in  these 
days  could  be  hurled  easily  by  an  eight-inch  rifle.  But  we  use 
150  pounds  of  the  very  best  powder  to  send  such  a  missile  on 
its  mission  of  death,  while  the  powder  used  in  those  old  days 
was  far  inferior  and  the  charge  probably  about  one-tenth  the 
weight  of  that  employed  today.  The  old  warriors  appreciated 
the  fact  that  the  greater  the  length  of  the  gun  the  greater  the 
penetration. 

Some  of  the  cannon  exceeded  in  length  the  very  latest  guns 
of  the  present  day.  This  fact  is  clearly  demonstrated  by  a  can 
non  which  can  still  be  seen  in  Dover  Castle.  It  has  a  bore  of 
four  and  three-quarter  inches,  fired  a  projectile  weighing  only 
twelve  pounds,  and  yet  was  fifty-three  calibers  in  length,  thus 
far  exceeding  in  length  the  Armstrong  gim,  much  used  in  the 
British  Navy,  which  is  one  of  the  longest  guns  afloat  today  in 
comparison  to  the  size  of  the  bore. 


258  OLD-TIME    CANNON    AND    NEW. 

Iron  shot  came  into  use  about  the  year  1450,  although  stone 
shot  continued  to  be  used  for  a  long  time  after  that.  About 
1550  cast  iron  came  into  use  almost  exclusively  for  guns,  and 
they  were  made  entirely  of  this  material  for  300  years,  for  it 
made  the  construction  of  guns  more  simple,  rapid  and  cheap. 
It  is  pretty  certain  that  rifling,  too,  came  into  use  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  for  at  the  Woolwich  Arsenal 
in  London  may  be  seen  a  barrel  on  which  is  stamped  the  date 
of  1547.  This  barrel  is  rifled  with  six  grooves,  which  have  a 
considerable  twist,  and  is,  moreover,  fitted  with  a  breech- 
loading  mechanism.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  it  has  taken  more 
than  300  years  to  develop  the  two  principal  ideas  on  which  are 
based  the  two  great  features  of  modern  ordnance — breech- 
loading  and  rifling. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  no  great  progress  seems  to  have 
been  made  in  ordnance,  although  the  number  and  weight  of  the 
guns  carried  by  individual  ships  were  increased.  Since  vic- 
tory on  sea  as  well  as  on  land  was  gained  by  bringing  to  bear 
on  the  point  attacked  a  sufificiently  powerful  force  to  crush  the 
enemy  at  that  point,  the  advantage  of  vessels  with  great  indi- 
vidual artillery  power  soon  became  evident,  and  this  power 
was  sought  by  the  greatest  possible  increase  in  the  number  of 
guns  carried.  In  1737  the  first  English  three-decker,  the 
Royal  Sovereign,  was  built,  carrying  the  tremendous  battery 
of  150  guns.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  a  method  of 
boring  guns  instead  of  casting  them  solid  came  into  use.  This 
added  very  much  to  the  efificiency  of  the  gun.  Still,  solid 
spherical  shot  continued  to  l)c  used,  alihough  the  advantages 
to  be  gained  by  the  use  of  elongated  projectiles  was  pointed 
out  by  Robins,  who,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, published  a  treatise  on  gunnery.  A  century  elapsed  be- 
fore ihe  principles  which  he  h.-ul  laid  down  were  put  into 
practice. 

Up  to  very  recently  the  guns  used  by  the  chief  naval  powers 
of  the  world  were  smooth-bore  and  sightless.  The  records  in 
shooting  which  American  gunners  made  during  the  war  of 
i<Si2  with  Great  Britain  are  remarkable  when  we  consider  the 
difficulties  under  which   the  gunners  worked.     Then  the  gun 


OLD-TIME    CANNON   AND    NEW.  261 

had  to  be  hauled  in  and  out  by  a  dozen  men  with  the  aid  of  . 
tackles.  To  train  right  or  left  it  had  to  be  hauled  or  worked 
around  with  ropes  and  iron  bars,  while  to  obtain  elevation 
or  depression  of  the  muzzle  wedges  were  withdraw  from  or  in- 
serted under  the  breech.  The  slow  match  for  firing  had  just 
been  superseded  by  the  flint  lock,  which  was  considered  a 
great  improvement,  and  was  invented  by  Sir  Charles  Douglas 
in  1782.  Sighting  was  done  by  what  is  called  the  "line  of 
metal;"  that  is,  running  the  eye  along  the  exterior  of  the  gun 
and  making  allowance  for  the  inclination  of  this  line  to  the 
axis  of  the  bore,  due  to  less  thickness  of  metal  at  the  muzzle 
than  at  the  breech. 

Fixed  sights  came  into  use  about  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury. It  seems  strange  that  their  advantages  were  not  appre- 
ciated by  the  fighters  of  that  time,  but  that  they  were  not  is 
amply  proved  by  the  opposition  which  this  innovation  met 
with.  In  1801  a  proposal  to  use  sights  on  guns  in  the  navy 
was  sent  to  Lord  Nelson.  His  opinion  was  unfavorable,  as 
may  be  gathered  from  the  following  reply  which  he  made  to 
the  Admiralty: 

"As  for  the  plan  for  pointing  a  gun  truer  than  we  do  at 
present,  if  the  person  comes,  I  shall,  of  course,  be  glad  to  look 
at  it,  or  be  happy,  if  necessary,  to  use  it,  but  I  hope  we  shall 
be  able,  as  usual  to  get  so  close  to  our  enemies  that  our  shot 
cannot  miss  the  object  if  we  want  them  to." 

Nelson  wanted  to  be  right  up  close  to  the  enemy,  where 
every  shot  could  be  made  to  tell.  A  three-mile  range  would 
have  astounded  him. 

The  claim  to  the  distinction  of  having  devised  and  intro- 
duced the  shell  system  of  projectiles  is  conceded  by  every  one 
familiar  with  the  subject  to  belong  to  General  Paixhans.  The 
rifled  guns  were  first  used  in  service  during  the  Crimean  War 
on  the  allied  ships  of  France  and  England.  At  first,  of  course, 
they  were  very  crude  in  design  and  faulty  in  construction,  but 
even  with  these  drawbacks  they  showed  so  many  points  of 
superiority  over  the  smooth-bore  guns  of  equal  weight  that 
their  development  was  rapid.  In  England  the  Lancaster  gun 
came  into  use.     It  was  made  of  cast  iron,  and  had  an  elliptical 


2(i2  OLD-TIME    CANNON    AND    NEW. 

bore  which  was  twisted  so  as  to  give  a  projectile  of  the  same 
shape  the  necessary  spin  to  keep  it  end  on.  A  great  deal  was 
expected  of  these  guns,  but  the  projectiles  frequently  jammed 
in  the  bore,  sometimes  breaking  up  and  sometimes  even  burst- 
ing the  gun  with  fatal  results,  and  they  were  abandoned  after  a 
long  trial.  The  trial,  however,  was  valuable,  in  that  it  pointed 
the  way  to  better  things. 

Sir  Joseph  Whitworth  about  this  time  invented  his  well- 
known  gun,  with  the  hexagonal  twisted  bore.  The  Armstrong 
gun,  however,  was  generally  considered  the  best,  and  was 
finally  adopted  by  the  British  Government.  It  was  built  up  of 
wrought-iron  tubes,  with  wrought-iron  hoops  shrunk  over 
them.  It  was  a  breech-loading  weapon,  firing  iron  projectiles 
coated  with  lead.  Between  the  years  1859  and  1863  more  than 
3500  Armstrong  guns  of  calibers  ranging  from  two  and  one- 
half  to  seven  inches  were  manufactured,  but  the  gun  was  defec- 
tive in  many  ways,  so  that  in  a  few  years  they  were  all  aban- 
doned and  guns  built  up  in  the  same  way,  but  muzzle-loading, 
were  adopted  in  their  place. 

This  was  a  retrogressive  step,  which  was  not  retraced  till 
fifteen  years  after.  Just  about  this  time  in  our  own  country 
the  smooth-bore  shell  gun  attained  such  a  development 
through  the  genius  of  Dahlgren  and  Rodman  that  the  general 
use  of  rifled  cannon  was  postponed  for  many  years.  For  a 
long  time  the  9,  11  and  15-inch  Dahlgrens  were  superior  to  any 
previous  smooth-bores,  and  equal  even  to  contemporary  rifled 
guns.  Their  superiority  was  due  as  much  to  a  better  distribu- 
tion of  the  metal  to  withstand  firing  strains  as  to  the  superior 
quality  of  American  cast  iron.  From  the  time  of  the  Civil 
War  up  to  1882  there  were  no  improvements  from  smooth- 
bore gun  to  rifle  in  our  naval  armament. 

The  modern  naval  gun  is  a  breech-loading  weapon.  It  con- 
sists of  an  inner  tube  of  the  finest  grade  of  forged  steel,  over 
which  are  shrunk  reinforcing  jackets  and  hoops  of  the  same 
material.  The  breech  is  usually  closed  by  means  of  a  slotted 
screw  system,  by  which  a  powerful  screw  thread  on  the  breech 
block  engages  with  a  similar  thread  forged  on  the  inner  sur- 
face of  the  outer  jacket  covering  the  breech.     The  chamber. 


OLH-TIMf-:    CANNON    AND    NEW.  21)3 

instead  of  being  smaller  in  diameter  than  the  rest  of  the  bore, 
as  it  used  to  be.  is  now  larger,  so  as  to  permit  the  employment 
of  very  large  powder  charges  without  unduly  shortening  the 
travel  of  the  projectile  before  it  leaves  the  muzzle  of  the  gun. 
thus  giving  to  it  the  advantage  of  every  ounce  of  pressure 
which  the  combustion  of  the  powder  generates. 

In  guns  of  earlier  makes  the  projectile  left  the  muzzle  before 
the  gases  impelling  it  had  fully  expanded,  and  thus,  by  too 
short  a  gun,  much  of  the  energy  of  the  powder  was  wasted. 
The  shortness  of  the  bore  in  old  ordnance  was,  however,  to 
some  extent  compensated  by  the  use  of  a  quick-burning  pow- 
der, whereas  that  now  employed  is  slow-burning  and  takes 
much  longer  to  develop  its  highest  pressure. 

The  length  of  the  modern  gun  is  generally  thirty  calibers, 
sometimes  a  little  more.  The  rifling  consists  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  shallow  grooves  with  a  twist,  increasing  as  they  ap- 
proach the  muzzle.  The  rotation  of  the  projectile,  necessary 
to  keep  it  point  on  while  traveling  through  the  air.  is  imparted 
to  it  by  a  copper  band  fastened  round  it  near  the  base.  This 
band  is  of  a  diameter  slightly  greater  than  the  caliber,  so  that 
it  is  forced  into  the  grooves  as  the  projectile  moves  forward. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  projectiles.  The  common  shell, 
made  either  of  steel  or  cast  iron,  and  containing  a  large  burst- 
ing charge;  the  armor-piercing  shell  of  forged  steel,  with  a 
finely-tempered  point  for  penetrating  armor,  and  containing 
a  quantity  of  very  high  explosive,  such  as  jovite.  and  the  shrap- 
nel, containing  a  great  number  of  small  balls,  with  a  bursting 
charge  to  spread  them  when  the  fuse  acts.  These  projectiles 
weigh  in  pounds  about  one-half  the  cube  of  their  diameter  in 
inches.  Compared  with  the  solid  shot  of  the  smooth-bore, 
they  are  four  times  as  heavy,  and  they  are  fitted  with  percus- 
sion fuses,  exploding  them  on  impact,  or  with  time  fuses  which 
can  be  set  to  explode  them  after  a  given  period  of  flight.  The 
powder  charges  are  about  one-half  the  weight  of  the  projec- 
tiles and  impart  to  them  a  velocity  of  2000  foot-seconds. 

There  are  now  coming  into  use  in  the  United  States  Navy 
smokeless  powders,  with  charges  of  which,  weighing  from 
one-fourth  to  one-third  the  projectile,  muzzle  velocities  as  high 


264  OLD-TIM K    r.lAVoA     .l,\7)    XKW. 

as  2600  to  2700  feet  a  second  are  obtained.  But  the  erosion  of 
chamber  and  rifling,  due  both  to  the  chemical  action  of  the 
gases  which  this  new  powder  generates  and  to  the  enormous 
pressures  developed  by  it,  is  so  great  as  to  raise  a  very  reason- 
able doubt,  not  only  of  the  superiority  of  the  smokeless  pow- 
der over  that  which  is  slow-burning,  but  of  its  utilty  under 
most  circumstances.  This  so-called  smokeless  powder  has  for 
its  base  a  high  explosive,  such  as  gun  cotton  or  nitro-glycer- 
ine,  or  a  mixture  of  both,  and  the  rapidity  of  its  combustion 
is  overcome  by  using  it  in  a  dense,  non-fibrous  form  or  by  the 
addition  of  inert  substances. 

The  calibers  of  the  new  rifles  with  which  our  ships  are  armed 
are  4.  5.  6,  8,  10,  12  and  13-inch.  The  processes  of  construction 
and  the  methods  of  assembling  the  various  parts  are  the  same 
for  all  these  guns.  The  starting  point  in  the  manufacture  of  a 
big  rifle  is  an  immense  vat  of  molten  steel  of  the  finest  quality 
obtainable.  While  cooling,  yet  still  in  a  malleable  condition, 
the  whole  mass  is  put  under  pow-erful  trip-hammers  which 
work  and  beat  it  to  prevent  any  air  being  inclosed  between  the 
cooling  particles,  a  possibility  to  be  carefully  guarded  against, 
since  the  imprisoned  air  would  prevent  a  thorough  kneeding 
of  the  steel  and  might  develop  weakness  and  render  the  tube 
less  able  to  withstand  the  tremendous  pressure  which  firing 
exerts  upon  it. 

After  this  forging  process  the  piece  is  rough-bored  and 
turned  down  in  huge  lathes  nearly  to  service  dimensions,  but 
enough  metal  is  left  on  one  or  both  ends  to  permit  ot  taking 
off  test  specimens.  This  rough-bored  and  turned  forging  is 
then  annealed  and  oil-tempered,  and  then  the  test  ends  are  cut 
ofT  and  put  to  the  trial.  If  these  tests  come  up  to  the  require- 
ments in  tensile  strength,  elastic  limit,  and  elongation,  the 
forging  is  accepted.  This  forging  comprises  the  inner  tube  of 
the  gun.  which  is  rifled.  Then  jackets  and  hoops  are  forged 
in  the  same  way.  The  jackets  are  made  slightly  smaller  than 
the  inner  tube,  bur  when  raised  to  a  white  heat  they  expand 
suflficiently  to  permit  of  their  being  slipped  on  over  the  tube 
which  they  reinforce.  In  cooling  these  jackets  shrink  so  that 
they  bind  and  tremendously  strengthen  the  tube.     The  assem- 


n 
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a. 


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OLD-TIMK  CA^^(>^'  axd  ^'I■:^v. 


•267 


bled  tube  and  jacket  are  then  placed  in  a  lathe  and  turned  to 
the  proper  diameter  for  the  hoops,  which  go  on  over  all  by  the 
same  process  oE  shrinkage  by  heat. 

The  gun  is  then  finish-bored,  the  chamber  is  bored  out,  and 
the  exterior  is  finished  off.  Finally  the  gun  is  rifled,  the  breech 
mechanism  is  fitted,  the  gun  is  sighted,  and  after  firmg  on  the 
proving  ground  under  the  most  severe  tests,  it  is  ready  to  be 
issued  for  service.  The  calculated  elastic  strength  of  the  guns 
ranges  from  sixten  to  twenty-five  tons,  although  pressures  as 
hi..h  as  thirty  tons  to  the  square  inch  of  chamber  have  been 
recorded  at  powder  tests,  without  any  enlargement  of  the 
weapon  having  been  observed.  For  service  use,  however,  the 
minimum  pressure  is  thirteen  and  the  maximum  seventeen 
tons  to  the  inch,  and  powder  is  made  to  obtain  pressure  withm 
these  extremes. 

The  10    12  and  13-inch  rifles  are  only  mounted  on  armored 
ships  capable  of  great  resistance  to  the  heavy  fire  of  an  enemy, 
and  then  are  always  protected  by  turrets  or  barbettes.     The 
13-inc.h  gun  weighs  about  sixty-five  tons.     It  fires  a  projec- 
tile weighing  HOC  pounds  with  a  muzzle  velocity  of  2100  foot- 
seconds,  which  is  equivalent  to  the  perforation,  at  the  muzzle, 
of  twenty-six  and  one-half  inches  of  armor.     The  muzzle  en- 
ergy of  the  projectile,  that  is.  the  force  given  to  it  by  the  com- 
bustion of  the  powder  as  it  leaves  the  muzzle,  is  33,ooo  foot- 
tons,  or  sufftcient  to  lift  a  first-class  battleship  three  feet.     The 
12-inch  gun  weighs  nearly  fifty  tons,  and  fires  a  projectile  of 
850  pounds  with  a  charge  of  450  pounds  of  brown  prismatic 
powder     The  lo-inch  gun  weighs  only  twenty-five  tons,  and 
fires  a  projectile  of  500  pounds  with  a  charge  of  250  pounds 
of  powder.     The  range  of  these  big  rifles  is  about  ten  miles. 
A  range  of  a  mile  is  considered  point  blank. 

The  mounting  for  these  heavy  guns  is  the  same  for  all  three, 
and  is  really  very  simple,  when  their  tremendous  weight  is 
taken  into  consideration.  To  a  saddle  almost  immediately  be- 
neath the  trunnions  the  gun  is  secured  by  heavy  ^Jeel  straps. 
This  saddle  works  on  a  slide  supported  by  girders  fixed  to  the 
turret  floor.  The  forward  part  of  this  saddle  if  connected 
with  a  piston  rod  working  in  a  steel  cylinder.     This  cylmder 


268  OLD-TIME    CANNON   AND    NEW. 

is  cut  with  shallow  grooves  of  varying  width,  their  sectional 
area  decreasing  to  nothing  at  the  rear  end,  and  is  filled  with 
water  or  glycerine.  When  the  gun  is  fired  it  forces  the  saddle 
back.  This  thrusts  back  the  piston  rod  in  the  cylinder,  and 
the  water  is  forced  through  the  shallow  grooves,  thus  absorb- 
ing the  recoil  energy  and  stopping  the  gun  after  it  has  trav- 
eled back  about  four  calibers.  A  pipe  conveys  water  from  be- 
low to  the  cylinders  through  an  automatic  valve,  which  closes 
when  the  pressure  in  the  recoil  cylinder  exceeds  the  working 
pressure  in  the  hydraulic  system. 

Consequently,  when  the  gun  recoils  the  pressure  of  this 
system  is  exceeded  by  the  pressure  of  the  gun,  and  the  valve 
closes.  But  when  the  recoil  is  checked,  the  gun  pressure  rap- 
idly decreases,  the  valve  connecting  with  the  water  system  be- 
low opens,  and  water  at  a  pressure  of  600  pounds  to  the  square 
inch  is  injected,  forcing  the  gun  back  in  battery.  Two  spring 
valves  at  the  front  end  of  the  cylinder  open  during  recoil  to  let 
out  the  water  displaced  from  the  rear  to  the  front  of  the  piston 
when  the  gun  was  fired. 

For  loading,  the  breech  of  the  gun  is  depressed  to  a  fixed 
loading  position,  a  three-storied  ammunition  car  carrying  the 
shell  in  the  upper  compartment  and  half  the  charge  in  each  of 
the  others  (for  the  charge  is  put  up  in  two  separate  parts,  be- 
ing too  heavy  to  handle  in  one)  is  hoisted  in  line  with  the 
breech  by  hydraulic  power  and  the  three  parts  of  the  ammuni- 
tion are  successively  pushed  home  by  means  of  a  hydraulic 
rammer.  For  rotating  the  turrets  steam  or  hydraulic  power 
must  be  used,  for  the  revolving  weight,  when  a  pair  of  heavy 
guns  are  mounted  behind  armor  of  reasonable  thickness,  is  so 
great  as  practically  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  training  by 
hand,  except,  perhaps,  when  the  deck  is  perfectly  level,  and 
friction  is  thus  reduced  to  a  minimum.  It  is,  therefore,  re- 
garded as  indisputable  that  hand  training  gear  is  useless  with 
turrets  and  with  guns  over  eight  inches  in  caliber.  And  it  is 
not  difficult  to  arrive  at  this  conclusion  when  it  is  borne  in 
mind  that  turrets  like  those  carried  by  the  Monterey  weigh 
180  tons,  those  of  the  Terror  280  tons,  while  the  pair  of  13-inch 
rifles  with  their  turrets  on  the  Indiana  weigh  500  tons. 


OLD-TIME    CANNON    AND    NEW.  269 

The  eight-inch  gun  is  the  heaviest  mounted  on  our  unar- 
mored  ships,  and  it  also  forms  the  main  battery  of  some  of  our 
battleships.  It  is  thirty-five  calibers  long,  weighs  thirteen 
tons,  and  with  a  charge  of  150  pounds  of  powder  fires  a  pro- 
jectile weighing  250  pounds.  The  six-inch  gun  is  used  for  the 
main  batteries  of  most  of  our  cruisers,  and  also  supplements 
the  13  and  eight-inch  guns  on  such  battleships  as  the  Indiana, 
Massachusetts  and  Oregon.  It  weighs  five  tons  and  uses  a 
charge  of  fifty  pounds  of  powder  to  hurl  a  100-pound  projectile. 

For  rapid-fire  guns  the  ammunition  is  in  one  piece,  and  is 
called  "fixed  ammunition,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  ammuni- 
tion for  the  larger  guns,  where  powder  and  projectile  are  sepa- 
rate. For  five-inch  rifles  the  weight  of  a  cartridge,  containing 
powder  and  shell,  is  about  ninety-five  pounds.  The  cartridge 
resembles  on  a  large  scale  an  ordinary  revolver  cartridge,  and 
is  placed  in  the  chamber  by  one  man.  When  tired  the  gases 
act  on  the  cartridge  shell  and  do  not,  of  course,  corrode  the 
chamber,  thus  rendering  sponging  unnecessary  and  thereby 
saving  a  great  deal  of  time.  By  using  fixed  ammunition  about 
five  rounds  a  minute  can  be  tired  without  much  effort.  The 
reason  this  quick-firing  principle  is  not  applied  to  larger  guns 
is  that  a  cartridge  containing  powder  and  shot  in  one  piece 
lor  any  rifle  over  five  inches  in  caliber  would  be  too  heavy  for 
one  man  to  handle  conveniently,  and  the  employment  of  two 
men  for  loading,  by  interfering  with  the  operations  of  other 
members  of  the  gun  crew,  such  as  closing  the  breech,  tram- 
ing,  elevating  and  sighting,  would  prevent  the  rapidity  of  fire 
which  it  is  the  object  of  fixed  ammunition  lo  get. 

The  five-inch  gun  weighs  7000  pounds,  the  projectile  weighs 
sixty,  and  the  powder  thirty  pounds.  The  four-inch  gim  is 
also  rapid-firing.  It  weighs  3400  pounds,  fires  a  projectile  of 
thirty-three  pounds  with  fifteen  pounds  of  powder.  Such  is 
the  tremendous  rapidity  of  fire  which  can  be  obtained  by  the 
dexterous  use  of  these  guns  that  on  the  proving  grounds  the 
five-inch  fired  five  rounds  in  twenty-four  seconds  and  the  four- 
inch  five  rounds  in  seventeen  seconds.  This  is  a  remarkable 
record,  but  a  record  under  the  most  favoring  conditions.  Good 
service   in   action    would   be    four   or   five    rounds  a   minute. 


270  OLD-TIME    CANNON    AND    NEW. 

There  is  a  three-inch  field  gun  which  is  in  use,  but  it  really 
comes  under  the  head  of  an  army  gun,  and  may  therefore  be 
dismissed  from  discussion  here. 

Then  come  the  machine  guns,  which  play  an  important  part 
in  naval  engagements.  The  caliber  of  the  new  machine  guns 
is  the  same  as  that  adopted  for  the  new  small  arm — the  Lee 
rifle,  viz.,  .236  of  an  inch.  The  muzzle  velocity  obtained  from 
these  guns  is  over  2500  foot-seconds,  and  their  steel-covered 
bullets  will  pierce  half  an  inch  of  mild  steel  or  twenty  inches 
of  oak  at  moderate  range. 

While  the  weapons  of  modern  ordnance  have  improved  tre- 
mendously in  recent  years  in  range,  accuracy  of  fire  and  pene- 
tration, yet  the  number  carried  by  a  modern  battleship  is  very 
slightly  less  than  the  number  carried  by  an  old  ship  of  the 
line.  The  necessity  of  carrying  very  heavy  guns  for  piercing 
the  armor  of  an  enemy  has  resulted  in  placing  but  four  of  these 
guns  on  a  ship.  But  the  secondary  battery  must  be  taken  into 
account,  and  it  will  be  found  that  the  usual  battery  of  a  fir.'^t- 
class  battleship  has  from  forty-five  to  sixty  guns.  Thus,  the 
Indiana,  the  Massachusetts,  and  the  Oregon  each  carry  four 
13-inch,  eight  eight-inch,  four  six-inch,  twenty  six-pounders, 
six  one-pounders,  and  four  machine  guns,  or  forty-six  guns  in 
all,  throwing  6000  pounds  of  metal  at  each  discharge  with  a 
total  muzzle  energy  of  over  200,000  foot-tons,  a  force  capable 
of  lifting  the  battleship  herself  twenty  feet  in  the  air  if  applied 
in  the  right  direction  and  to  the  best  lifting  instead  of  to  the 
best  destructive  advantage. 

Just  what  is  the  most  advantageous  armament  for  ships  of 
different  tonnage  and  varied  protection  to  carry  can  only  be 
told  by  the  practical  test  of  war. 


S1U.\ALS    ly    tiEA    FIGHTS.  273 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 
SIGNALS  IN   SEA   FIGHTS. 

MEANS  OF  COMMUNICATION  USED  BY  OUR  WARSHIPS — FLAGS  IN 
THE  DAYTIME  AND  ELECTRIC  LIGHTS.  AT  NIGHT  USED 
CHIEFLY — THE  SECRETS  OF  THE  SIGNAL  BOOKS  GUARDED 
CLOSELY — THE  ARDOIS  NIGHT  SIGNALS  AND  THE  MEYER 
WIGWAG   SYSTEM. 

In  a  naval  battle,  the  success  or  failure  of  a  fleet  may  depend 
on  keeping  open  communication  between  the  different  vessels 
of  the  squadron  engaged.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  surface 
of  the  sea  would  often  be  obscured  by  the  smoke  of  battle,  the 
difficulty  of  this  is  apparent  and  naval  experts  have  been  kept 
busy  devising  some  method  by  which  the  flagship  can  com- 
municate with  the  other  vessels  of  a  squadron  at  all  times  and 
under  all  conditions.  So  far,  nothing  has  been  put  in  general 
service  which  meets  this  demand,  Init  lately  there  have  been 
experiments  with  a  telephone  which,  it  is  said,  can  be  used 
without  wires,  by  which  signals  can  be  projected  by  a  vibrator 
on  one  vessel  against  a  receiver  on  another.  The  Navy  De- 
partment is  keeping  the  details  of  this  new  system  carefully 
to  itself,  as  it  desires  to  have  the  invention  for  the  exclusive  use 
of  our  own  ships  in  battle. 

The  present  method  of  communication  is  by  the  use  of  flags 
representing  numerals,  which  are  displayed  in  the  rigging;  by 
the  use  of  the  Ardois  system  of  lights  for  night  work;  by  the 
Myer  code  of  wigwag  signals,  and  by  the  use  of  the  heliograph. 
As  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  enemy  should  not 
read  the  message,  the  signal  books  on  board  a  vessel  are  pro- 
tected with  the  greatest  care,  and  are  destroyed  along  with  the 
cipher  code  whenever  it  is  seen  that  capture  is  inevitable.  The 
semaphore  .system  in  use  in  the  British  Navy  was  fried  f"r  a 


274  SIGNALS    IN    SEA    FIGHTS. 

time  aboard  some  of  our  vessels,  but  it  never  became  popular, 
and  has  been  abandoned. 

In  signalling  by  the  navy  code  the  sentence  to  be  sent  is 
looked  up  in  the  code  book  and  its  corresponding  number  is 
obtained.  This  number  is  never  more  than  four  figures,  on 
account  of  the  necessity  of  setting  the  signal  with  the  least 
delay.  The  number  having  been  obtained,  the  quartermaster 
in  charge  of  the  signal  chest  proceeds  to  bend  the  flags  repre- 
senting the  numerals  to  the  signal  halyards,  so  as  to  read  from 
the  top  down.  These  flags  represent  the  numerals  from  i  to 
9  and  o,  and  there  is  a  triangular  pennant  termed  a  repeater, 
which,  is  used  in  a  combination  where  one  or  more  numerals 
recur.  The  numbers  refer  to  those  found  in  the  general  sig- 
nal book,  in  which  are  printed  all  the  words,  phrases  and  sen- 
tences necessary  to  frame  an  order,  make  an  inquiry,  indicate 
a  geographical  position,  or  signal  a  compass  course.  Answer- 
ing, interrogatory,  preparatory,  and  geographical  pennants 
form  part  of  this  code;  also  telegraph,  danger,  despatch  and 
quarantine  flags. 

The  signal,  having  been  prepared,  is  hoisted  and  left  flying 
until  the  vessel  to  which  the  message  has  been  sent  signifies 
that  it  is  understood  by  hoisting  what  is  called  the  answering 
pennant.  If  the  number  hoisted  by  the  flagship  is  a  prepara- 
tory order  for  a  fleet  movement  it  is  left  flying  until  all  the 
vessels  of  the  fleet  have  answered  and  then  is  pulled  down,  the 
act  of  pulling  the  signal  down  being  understood  as  the  com- 
mand for  the  execution  of  the  movement  just  communicated. 

It  is  often  necessary  for  a  man-of-war  to  communicate  with 
a  merchant  vessel  or  with  some  other  warship  belonging  to  a 
foreign  country.  For  this  purpose  the  international  code  is 
also  carried  in  the  signal  chest.  These  signals  are  those  in 
general  use  by  all  the  merchant  navies  of  the  world  for  com- 
munication by  day  at  sea.  There  are  eighteen  flags  and  a  code 
pennant,  corresponding  to  consonants  of  the  alphabet,  omitting 
X  and  Z.     The  code  pennant  is  always  used  with  these  signals. 

If  a  message  is  to  be  sent  at  night  the  Ardois  system  of  night 
signals,  with  which  all  our  vessels  carrying  an  electric  plant 
are  fitted,  is  em.ployed.    These  signals  consist,  essentially,  of 


(SIGNALS    IN    SEA    FIGHTS.  275 

five  groups  of  double  lamps,  the  two  lamps  in  each  group  con- 
taining incandescent  electric  lamps,  and  showing  white  and 
red  respectively.  By  the  combination  of  these  lights  letters 
can  be  formed,  and  so  letter  by  letter  a  word  and  thence  an 
order  can  be  spelled  out  for  the  guidance  of  the  ships  of  a 
squadron.  These  lamps  are  suspended  on  a  stay  in  the  rig- 
ging, and  are  worked  by  a  keyboard  from  the  upper  bridge. 

On  the  smaller  ships  of  the  service,  those  which  are  not 
fitted  with  electric  lighting,  Very's  night  signals  are  used. 
This  set  includes  the  implements  for  firing  and  recharging  the 
signals.  The  latter  show  as  green  and  red  stars  on  being  pro- 
jected from  the  pistols  made  for  them.  The  combination  of 
red  and  green  in  various  ways  is  used  to  express  the  numbers 
from  I  to  9  and  o,  so  that  the  numbers,  to  four  digits,  contained 
in  the  signal  books  may  be  displayed. 

The  Meyer  wigwag  system  is  employed  either  by  day  or  by 
night.  Flags  and  torches  are  employed.  The  official  flag  is  a 
red  field  with  a  small  white  square  in  the  center:  the  unofficial 
flag  is  the  same  with  the  colors  reversed.  The  operator,  hav- 
ing attracted  the  attention  of  the  ship  which  is  to  be  signalled 
by  waving  the  flag  or  torch  from  right  to  left  transmits  his 
message  by  motions  right,  left  and  front,  each  motion  repre- 
senting an  element  of  a  letter  of  the  alphabet,  the  letter  being 
made  up  from  one  to  four  motions. 

When  circumstances  permit,  the  heliograph  is  sometimes 
used.  The  rays  of  the  sun  are  thrown  by  a  system  of  mirrors 
to  the  point  with  which  it  is  desired  to  communicate,  and  then 
interrupted  by  means  of  a  shutter,  making  dots  and  dashes 
as  used  in  the  :\Iorse  telegraph  code.  This  system  is  used  only 
when  operations  ashore  are  going  on,  as  the  rolling  of  the 
ship  would  prevent  the  concentration  of  sun's  rays. 

The  present  systems  of  flag  signalling  are  products  of  expe- 
rience in  the  past,  and  are  the  natural  growth  of  the  cruder  flag 
system  in  use  in  the  War  of  1812  and  in  the  Civil  War.  There 
have  been  some  changes  in  the  construction  of  flags,  and  the 
scope  of  communication  has  been  enlarged,  but  otherwise  our 
forefathers  talked  at  sea  in  much  tlie  same  way  that  we  do  now. 
Of  course,  the  Ardois  light  signal  is  something  very  modern. 


270  SJfjy.iLS    IN    SEA    FIGHTS. 

In  old  times  they  communicated  at  night  either  vvitli  colored 
lights  or  by  torches,  but  as  there  was  no  alphabetical  code  in 
those  days  the  process  was  by  means  of  flashes  (representing 
numbers  in  the  signal  book),  and  it  was  long  and  tedious. 

How  well  the  present  flag  and  wigwag  signals  will  work  dur- 
ing an  engagement  remains  to  be  discovered;  but  if  they  fail, 
attempts  can  still.be  made  to  communicate  by  the  ship's  whis- 
tle or  by  written  messages  displayed  on  blackboards  if  occa- 
sion offers.  In  case  of  an  enemy  appearing  on  our  coast,  ar- 
rangements have  been  made  to  notify  the  nearest  body  of 
troops  or  the  commander  of  whatever  ships  may  be  at  hand. 
For  this  purpose  towers  have  been  erected  at  intervals,  and 
telegraph  wires  leading  from  one  to  the  other  have  been 
strung.  This,  together  with  the  telephone  system  in  use  by  the 
life-saving  service,  will  permit  of  ample  warning  on  the  ap- 
proach of  a  hostile  squadron. 


TRAIMNG    PACK    MULES.  279 


CHAPTER    XXX. 
TRAINING   PACK   MULES. 

HOW  THE  PENSIVE  HYBRID  IS  FITTED  TO  ACQUIT  HIMSELF  CRED- 
ITABLY  IN  WAR. 

A  government  mule  of  long  training  has  a  reputation  that  is 
bad.  but  it  is  not  to  be  compared  to  the  contrary  "green"  mule. 
To  one  who  did  not  understand  the  process  ol  tranimg  it 
seemed  that  Tom  Horn  and  his  five  assistants  had  simply 
driven  sixty-three  mules  into  a  pen  and  were  gently  whippmg 
them  with  ropes  and  lassoing  them  just  for  the  lun  ot  seemg 
them  kick  But  after  three  hours  of  disorder  and  discord, 
punctuated  with  brays,  grunts  and  kicks,  chaos  finally  ceased, 
and  the  mules  stood  in  line  almost  as  docile  as  so  many  sleepy 

kittens. 

To  understand  the  process  of  training,  one  must  first  know 
the  routine  duties  that  a  pack  mule  in  the  army  is  required  to 
perform.  Each  mule  is  branded  with  the  letters  "U.  S."  on  the 
left  shoulder.  Each  mule  is  given  a  number,  and  when  in  line 
he  must  stand  in  the  place  designated  by  that,  number.  The 
number  is  branded  in  the  bottom  of  the  left  fore  hoof.  Each 
morning  and  evening  a  long  strip  of  canvas  is  spread  on  the 
cxround  and  shelled  corn  or  oats  are  placed  on  the  canvas  as 
The  rations  for  the  mule  train.  The  trained  pack  mule  must 
know  his  exact  place  in  line  before  the  can^-as  without  any 
help  from  the  men.  Then  when  the  men  start  to  place  the 
saddles  and  packs  on  the  mules,  the  animals  are  supposed  to 
stand  stock  still  until  ready  for  the  march. 

The  "green"  mules  are  receiving  training  which  will  event- 
ually bring  them  under  this  perfect  discipline.  The  govern-^ 
ment  has  just  purchased  another  looo  mules  for  the  army,  and 
they  were  branded  at  the  National  Stock  Yards  under  the 
supervision  of  Capt.  J.  B.  Aleshire.  Assistant  Quartermaster, 


280  TRAIN  IN  (1    I'ACK    MULES. 

and  600  of  them  are  now  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  under  charge 
of  Captain  Von  Schroder,  Quartermaster,  and  Captain 
Knight,  who  is  now  Quartermaster  of  the  post.  The  mules 
at  the  barracks  are  being  trained  for  army  pack  service,  and 
this  work  is  being  done  under  the  direction  of  Frank  Benham, 
master  of  transportation,  who  is  an  old-time  freighter  from  the 
Western  plains. 

In  the  army  '=ervice  the  pack  mules  are  divided  into  trains, 
each  train  having  sixty-three  animals.  With  each  train  are 
one  boss  packer,  one  cargodore,  and  eleven  packers,  making 
thirteen  men  in  all.  One  train,  therefore,  has  fifty  pack  mules 
and  thirteen  riding  mules.  One  cook  and  one  blacksmith  look 
after  each  train.  The  boss  packer  superintends  the  packing 
in  general.  The  cargodore  looks  after  the  physical  condition 
of  the  animals  and  adjusts  and  equalizes  the  loads  they  are  to 
carry.  He  washes  the  sore  backs  with  castile  soap  and  hot 
water,  and  adjusts  the  saddles  so  that  a  sore  back  will  cause 
as  little  pain  as  possible.  The  blacksmith  examines  the  hoofs 
of  the  mules,  and  sees  that  they  are  kept  in  good  condition. 
Contrary  to  general  belief,  an  army  mule  receives  much  better 
treatment  than  most  mules  owned  by  civilians.  The  army 
mule  is  looked  after  almost  as  carefully  as  are  the  men.  The 
short,  chunky  mule,  about  fourteen  to  fourteen  and  one-i^alf 
hands  high,  is  the  best  for  pack  purposes,  especially  in  a 
mountainous  country.  However,  a  great  many  mules  now  at 
the  barracks  are  fifteen  hands  high.  They  are  a  fine  lot  of 
animals,  sleek  and  well  fed.  for  which  the  government  paid  $94 
a  head.  An  army  pack  mule  carries  a  load  weighing  from 
250  to  ,^00  pounds.  Each  train  carries  ammunition  and  rations 
for  men  and  animals  and  cooking  utensils.  One  i)ack  may  be 
made  up  of  two  boxes  of  ammunition  and  two  sacks  of  oats  or 
shelled  corn,  all  weighing  250  pounds.  Another  pack  may  be 
composed  of  sides  of  bacon  arranged  in  layers  and  thrown 
over  the  mule's  back  in  saddle-bag  fashion.  Another  pack 
may  be  made  up  of  cooking  utensils  and  flour,  and  another  of 
bedding,  etc.  But  each  pack  is  adjusted  so  that  it  will  weigh 
only  from  250  to  300  pounds.  It  takes  an  experienced  packer 
to  adjust  these  packs  by  the  weight  (|uickly.     A  boss  packer 


TRAiyiXd    /Mr A'     t//  /./•;. s'.  281 

receives  $ioo  a  month  salary,  a  cargodore  $75  a  month,  and  a 
common  packer  $50  a  month.  The  saddle  used  is  known  as 
the  Tom  Moore  pack  saddle.  The  name  comes  from  the  in- 
ventor. Tom  Moore,  an  Irishman,  vi^ho  was  master  of  trans- 
portation imder  General  Cook  during  the  latter's  Indian  cam- 
paigns in  the  West  and  Southwest.  Moore  is  dead,  and  his 
military  monument  is  his  army  pack  saddle.  It  is  a  spring- 
bowed  saddle,  with  soft  cushions  on  each  side,  with  two  big 
pieces  of  leather  running  back  to  the  crupper,  and  the  saddle 
and  pack  are  lashed  to  the  animal  by  a  broad  canvas  girth  or 
cinch.  Singular  to  say,  the  favorite  pack  saddle  of  the  sol- 
diers from  the  West  is  of  Spanish  make,  and  is  called  the 
"aperaro."  Some  mule  trains  have  a  gray  mare,  known  as 
the  "bell  mare,"  which  the  cook  rides.  It  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  mules  will  follow  an  old  gray  mare  just  like  a  flock  of 
sheep  will  follow  the  bellwether.  With  a  train  of  experienced 
mules  and  experienced  men,  the  fifty  pack  animals  can  be  sad- 
dled and  packs  adjusted  and  ready  for  a  march  within  fifty 
minutes  or  one  hour. 

In  the  process  of  training  at  the  barracks  sixty-three  mules, 
or  one  train,  were  placed  in  a  corral  at  one  time.  Tom  Horn, 
who  will  be  the  boss  packer  of  what  will  be  known  as  "Horn's 
train,"  not  only  superintended  the  training  of  the  mules,  but 
also  of  the  men  who  intended  to  serve  as  packers.  Only 
strong  men  physically  are  selected,  as  packing  is  one  of  the 
hardest  and  most  tiresome  duties  in  the  army  service.  The 
mules,  being  unaccustomed  to  a  strange  place  with  strange 
ceremonies,  ran  from  one  end  of  the  corral  to  the  other  and 
engaged  in  kicking  matches.  A  particularly  wild  mule  would 
invariably  refuse  to  be  led  when  a  strap  was  fastened  to  his 
halter,  and  he  would  elevate  his  head  and  rear  and  plunge  and 
pull  backward,  while  the  soldier  would  pull  the  other  way  at 
the  other  end  of  the  strap.  Thus  would  be  seen  a  veritable 
tug-ot-war  between  man  and  beast.  One  amusing  spectacle 
was  when  a  big  bay  mule  lay  back  its  ears,  sent  its  hind  feet 
into  the  air,  and  then  ran  from  one  end  of  the  corral  to  the 
other,  with  a  small,  chunky  soldier  at  the  other  end  of  the 
strap  going  over  the  ground  at  a  hop,  skip  and  jump.    But  the 


282  TRAINING    I'ACK    MULES. 

plucky  soldier  held  on  to  his  end  of  the  strap,  and  the  mule 
jerked  him  hither  and  thither  among  all  the  kicking  and  ex- 
cited mules  in  the  corral.  He  appeared  to  be  in  imminent 
danger  of  losing  his  life,  but  he  escaped  unhurt.  Finally  the 
mule  was  conquered  and  saddled,  and  then  the  spectators  ap- 
plauded. After  a  saddle  had  been  placed  on  a  mule  he  was 
turned  loose  and  allowed  to  go,  so  that  he  would  become  ac- 
customed to  his  new  paraphernalia.  After  an  hour  of  this 
training  the  mules  were  caught  and  the  saddles  removed. 
Sometimes  a  contrary  mule  gave  the  packers  a  chase,  but  big 
Tom  Horn  only  had  fun  by  dexterously  throwing  a  lasso  and 
catching  the  mule  by  one  leg,  or  throwing  the  noose  over  the 
nose,  just  as  the  notion  seized  him. 

The  most  difficult  lesson  for  the  mules  was  in  teaching  them 
to  form  in  line  before  a  long  strip  of  canvas  to  be  fed.  No 
rations  are  used  in  this  training,  but  a  long,  straight  row  of 
saddles  was  covered  with  a  strip  of  white  canvas.  Then  Tom 
Horn  and  his  men,  using  ropes  for  whips,  drove  the  mules 
together  toward  the  canvas-covered  row  of  saddles.  The 
mules  kicked  and  cavorted,  and  often  a  half-dozen  would 
break  away  and  run,  while  those  before  the  canvas  would  not 
stand  still.  Finally  one  mule  after  another  was  caught,  and  a 
strap  fastened  to  the  halter,  and  then  led  up  with  his  head  to 
the  canvas.     The  halter  straps  were  tied  together. 

This  tedious  process  was  continued  for  one  hour,  until  all 
the  sixty-three  mules  were  tied  together,  their  heads  to  the 
row  of  canvas.  They  appeared  to  be  tied  to  one  long  strap  in 
a  way  similar  to  a  chain  running  from  one  hitching  post  to 
another.  At  first  a  few  mules  jumped  over  the  row  of  sad- 
dles, but  they  were  quickly  made  to  jump  back  into  their 
places.  Within  twenty  minutes  after  all  the  mules  had  been 
thus  tied  they  were  standing  in  line  quietly  before  the  strip  of 
canvas.  Packer  Horn  said  that  every  mule  in  the  train  would 
learn  to  stand  in  line  before  the  canvas  without  being  tied 
after  a  week  or  ten  days'  training,  as  the  animals  would  then 
know  that  they  would  get  something  to  eat  when  they  stood 
at  the  canvas  on  the  ground. 

The   manner   in   which  Tom   Horn   managed   these   unruly 


TRAINING    PACK    MULES.  285 

mules  proves  that  gentleness  is  far  better  than  brutality  even 
in  the  treatment  of  a  stubborn  mule.  While  a  mule  cannot  be 
coaxed  into  doing  something,  and  force  must  be  used,  yet 
Packer  Horn  used  only  gentleness  and  did  not  permit  any  of 
his  assistants  to  yell  angrily,  much  less  use  any  brutality  in 
whipping.  When  the  mules  were  driven  together  they  were 
only  tapped  lightly  by  the  ropes  in  the  hands  of  the  men. 
Generally  the  men  swung  the  ropes  round  and  round  over  their 
heads  and  did  not  touch  the  mules,  but  simply  drove  them  back 
quietly.  When  dealing  with  a  stubborn  mule  Packer  Horn 
never  used  a  club  or  whip,  but  simply  said.  "Yuh!  Yuh-h-h!" 
in  a  soft  tone  of  voice.  He  even  threw  up  his  hands  and  ex- 
claimed. "Shoo-o-o!"  when  several  mules  would  try  to  run  by 
him,  and  treated  them  as  quietly  as  a  woman  driving  a  hen 
and  chickens  to  the  roost.  Horn's  method  proves  that  even 
the  much-despised  and  much-abused  mule  appreciates  gentle 
treatment  and  is  willing  to  obey  a  kind  master.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  a  trained  army  pack  mule  is  docile,  as  a  rule. 
In  some  respects  he  has  more  sense  than  a  horse.  The  first 
thing  a  horse  does  when  he  falls  and  becomes  entangled  dur- 
ing action  or  in  an  accident  is  to  kick,  but  the  mule  lies  per- 
fectly quiet  until  released. 


286  TYPES    OF    WARSHIPS. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

TYPES  OF  THE   WARSHIPS. 

DIFFERENCES   IN   .\RMOR   AND    GUNS   OF  THE   \ARIOUS   CLASSES — 

PRINCIPLE     OF     THE     CLASSIFICATION GENERAL     PLAN     OF 

THE  FLOATING  FORTRESS  CALLED  A  BATTLESHIP — CHANGES 
THAT  PRODUCE  THE  CRUISERS — THE  TORPEDO-BOAT  AND 
THE  DESTROYER. 

In  these  days  of  war  talk  there  are  a  great  many  expressions 
in  common  use  by  persons  who  have  no  clear  understanding 
of  their  meaning.  This  is  especially  true  of  naval  affairs,  the 
terminology  of  seamanship  being  always  more  or  less  confus- 
ing to  a  landsman.  One  constantly  hears  persons  talking 
glibly  about  ironclads,  cruisers,  gunboats,  battleships  and 
monitors,  without  any  distinct  idea  of  the  differences  in  the 
various  types  of  vessels  of  which  they  speak  so  familiarly. 

There  are  ten  principal  classes  of  vessels  in  the  United 
States  Navy,  distinguished  one  from  another  by  the  differ- 
ences in  their  use  and  by  their  strength  and  speed.  The  gen- 
eral principle  underlying  their  construction  is  that  a  vessel 
which  is  not  strong  enough  to  fight  one  of  her  own  size  must 
be  fast  enough  to  run  away.  Any  vessel  which  is  inferior  in 
armament  and  has  no  compensating  superiority  in  speed  is 
outclassed.  The  same  is  true  of  any  vessel  which  is  equal  in 
armament  but  inferior  in  speed  to  an  adversary. 

The  size  of  a  vessel  is  measured  by  its  displacement.  Tliis 
displacement  is  the  number  of  tons  of  water  she  will  push 
aside  to  make  room  for  herself.  A  vessel  ol  lo.oco  tons  will 
take  engines  of  a  certain  weight  and  power  to  drive  her  at  a 
given  speed,  and  the  larger  the  engines  the  larger  the  boilers 
and  the  greater  the  supply  of  coal  required.  Now.  if  it  is  nec- 
essary to  give  this  vessel  heavy  protective  armor  and  big  guns, 


TYPES    OF    WARSHIPS.  287 

the  additional  weight  of  this  equipment  must  be  saved  some- 
Nvhere  else,  and  usually  in  the  engine-room,  reducing  the  speed 
of  the  vessel.  Following  out  this  principle,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  fastest  ships  carry  the  lightest  armament,  and  that 
those  which  carry  the  biggest  guns  in  their  batteries  and  the 
thickest  armor  on  their  sides  are  comparatively  slow,  the  ex- 
treme variation  among  vessels  of  the  same  displacement  bemg 
about  eight  or  nine  miles  an  hour. 

In  the  matter  of  attack  and  defence,  vessels  are  distinguished 
by  the  number  and  weight  of  the  guns  they  carry  and  by  the 
distribution  and  thickness  of  their  armor.  Protective  armor  is 
ot  two  kinds,  that  which  surrounds  the  guns,  so  as  to  piotect 
them  from  the  enemy's  fire,  and  that  which  protects  the  motive 
power  of  the  ship,  so  as  to  prevent  the  engines  from  bemg 
rendered  useless. 

The  maximum  of  guns  and  armor  and  the  minimum  of  speed 
are  to  be  found  in  the  i^rst-class  battleship,  which  is  simply  a 
floating  fortress,  so  constructed  that  she  need  never  run  away, 
but  can  stand  up  and  fight  as  long  as  her  gun  turrets  will  re- 
volve     The  general  plan  of  construction  in  a  battleship  is  to 
surround  the  engines,  boilers  and  magazines   with  a   wall  ot 
Harveyized  steel  armor  eighteen  inches  or  so  thick  and  seven 
or  eight  feet  high,  which  extends  about  four  feet  below  the 
water  line  and  three  feet  above  it.     This  armor  belt  is  not  only 
on  the  sides  of  the  ship,  but  is  carried  across  it  fore  and  alt. 
immediately  in  front  of  and  behind  the  space  occupied  by  the 
engines  and  magazines,  and  the  whole  affair  is  covered  with  a 
solid  steel  roof,  three  or  four  inches  thick.     Outside  this  cen- 
tral fortress  and  extending  from  it  clear  to  the  bow  and  stern 
at  each  end  is  a  protective  deck  of  steel,  three  inches  thick, 
which  is  placed  several  feet  below  the  water  line.     Everything 
above  this  deck  and  outside  this  fortress  might  be  shot  away, 
and  the  vessel  would  still  float  and  fight. 

On  the  roof  of  the  fortress  are  placed  the  turrets  containing 
the  big  guns.  The  largest  of  these  guns.  13-inch  caliber,  weigh 
about  sixty  tons  each,  and  will  carry  a  shell  weighing  noo 
pounds  about  twelve  miles.  The  turrets  are  circular,  as  a 
rule  large  enough  to  hold  two  guns,  and  are  made  of  face- 


288  TYPEfi    OF    WAE^HIP^. 

hardened  steel  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  thick.  They  re- 
volve within  a  barbette  or  ring  of  steel  eighteen  inches  thick, 
.  which  protects  the  machinery  by  which  the  guns  are  trained. 
Further  back  on  the  roof  of  the  fortress  are  other  and  lighter 
turrets,  made  of  eight-inch  steel  and  carrying  eight-inch  guns, 
and  at  other  places  are  stationed  rapid-fire  guns  of  lighter  cal- 
il)er,  protected  by  thinner  armor  than  that  in  the  main  belt. 

If  all  this  secondary  battery  is  stripped  off,  leaving  nothing 
but  the  turrets  with  the  big  guns,  and  these  are  brought  down 
close  to  the  water,  and  the  armor  belt  is  reduced  to  seven  or 
eight  inches  in  thickness,  the  type  of  vessel  known  as  the  mon- 
itor is  reached.  It  is  simply  a  battleship  on  a  reduced  scale. 
Such  vessels  are  very  slow  and  cannot  stand  rough  weather, 
on  account  of  their  low  freeboard.  The  speed  of  monitors  is 
seldom  more  than  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  an  hour,  and  they 
are  intended  to  act  in  coast  defence,  usually  in  connection  with 
shore  batteries.  The  best  types  in  the  navy  are  the  Terror 
and  the  Puritan. 

The  speed  of  a  battleship  is  about  eighteen  miles  an  hour. 
The  best  specimen  in  the  navy  is  the  Indiana,  declared  by  its 
admirers  to  be  the  most  powerful  battleship  afloat. 

Second-class  battleships,  like  the.  Texas,  are  smaller  vessels, 
usually  about  7000  tons,  and  they  have  a  much  lighter  armor 
belt,  about  twelve  inches,  and  do  not  carry  so  heavy  an  arma- 
ment as  ships  of  the  first  class.  The  Maine  was  a  second-class 
battleship.  Her  largest  guns  were  of  lo-inch  caliber;  her 
armor  was  twelve  inches  thick  and  her  turrets  were  eight 
inches  thick  only. 

The  first  step  in  reducing  the  armament  from  that  of  the 
battleship  proper,  at  the  same  time  increasing  the  speed,  pro- 
duces the  armored  cruiser.  This  type  of  vessel  may  carry  no 
guns  of  more  than  eight-inch  caliber,  and  the  armor  belt  is 
reduced  to  three  or  four  inches  in  thickness.  Instead  of  the 
roof  over  the  armor  belt,  the  protective  deck  is  carried  all  over 
the  ship,  but  it  is  not  fiat,  nor  is  it  of  equal  thickness,  as  in  a 
battleship.  On  the  top  and  in  the  middle  it  is  three  inches 
thick,  but  the  sides  are  six  inches,  and  they  slope  abruptly  to 
below  the   water  line.     Between   these  slf)ping   sides  and  the 


TYPE8    OF    WARSHIPS.  291 

thin  armor  belt  coal  is  stored,  so  that  a  shell  would  have  to 
penetrate  the  outer  belt,  six  or  eight  feet  of  coal,  and  a  sloping- 
belt  of  steel  six  inches  thick,  the  total  resistance  of  which  is 
calculated  to  be  equal  to  a  solid  horizontal  armor  plate  fifteen 
inches  thick. 

A  cruiser  is  not  supposed  to  fight  with  a  battleship,  because 
it  could  not  accomplish  anything  with  its  eight-inch  guns 
against  the  i8-inch  armor  of  its  heavier  rival,  while  one  well- 
directed  shot  from  the  13-inch  guns  of  a  battleship  or  monitor 
would  probably  sink  any  armored  cruiser  afloat.  For  this  rea- 
son the  cruiser  must  be  faster  than  the  battleship,  so  that  she 
can  run  away,  and  the  weight  that  is  saved  in  the  armor  belt 
and  big  guns  is  therefore  put  into  the  engine-room.  The 
average  speed  of  an  armored  cruiser  is  about  twenty-four  miles 
an  hour,  and  the  best  types  of  this  class  in  the  navy  are  prob- 
ably the  Brooklyn  and  New  York. 

Some  vessels,  like  the  Spaniard  Vizcaya,  are  about  half-way 
between  a  battleship  and  a  cruiser,  having  the  heavy  guns  of 
the  former  and  the  speed  of  the  latter.  The  Vizcaya,  although 
a  cruiser,  carries  ii-inch  guns  with  a  12-inch  armor  belt,  and 
has  a  speed  of  twenty-three  miles  an  hour. 

The  next  step  in  reducing  armament  and  increasing  speed 
produced  the  protected  cruiser,  which  carries  no  armor  belt, 
but  retains  the  protective  deck,  upon  the  sloping  sides  of 
which  is  stored  the  coal.  The  turrets  disappear  altogether, 
and  there  is  usually  only  one  eight-inch  gun,  the  battery  being 
principally  made  up  of  four-inch  lapid-fire  guns  and  six.  four 
and  one-pounders.  As  this  class  of  vessel  is  not  able  to  cope 
with  the  armored  cruiser,  it  must  be  faster,  for  the  general 
principle  holds  good  that  the  weaker  the  vessel  becomes  in 
point  of  ofifensive  weapons  or  defensive  armor,  the  greater  the 
necessity  that  she  should  be  able  to  run  away.  The  best  types 
of  the  protected  cruiser  in  the  navy  may  be  found  in  the  Co- 
lumbia and  IMinneapolis.  which  have  a  speed  of  about  twenty- 
seven  miles  an  hour. 

The  weakest  class  of  all   is  composed   of  the  unprotected 

■    cruisers,  which  have  neither  armor  belt  nor  protective  deck. 

and  carry  only  light  batteries  of  rapid-fire  guns.     When  these 


292  TYPEIS    OF    WARSHIPS. 

vessels  are  slow,  like  the  Detroit,  they  are  intended  for  long 
voyages  and  for  duty  in  foreign  countries,  and  are  of  little  use 
in  a  sea  fight.  The  very  fast  unprotected  cruisers,  like  the 
American  line  steamers  St.  Paul  and  St.  Louis,  attach  little  im- 
portance to  their  armament  and  rely  for  protection  upon  stow- 
ing the  coal  behind  the  place  occupied  by  the  armor  belt  in 
other  vessels.  All  the  beautiful  wood  work  which  was  so 
much  admired  in  these  vessels  has  been  ripped  out  to  make 
room  for  these  coal  bunkers,  which  are  sufficient  to  protect 
them  from  anything  but  the  heaviest  guns.  On  account  of 
their  extreme  weakness  as  fighters,  these  cruisers  are  neces- 
sarily the  fastest  of  all  the  large  vessels,  and  can  run  away  from 
anything.  For  this  reason  no  concern  was  felt  for  the  Paris 
by  those  who  know  the  principles  which  govern  the  safety  of 
modern  vessels. 

The  various  types  of  cruiser  are  not  expected  to  fight  with 
any  but  vessels  of  their  own  class,  which  they  may  encounter 
in  the  discharge  of  similar  duties,  such  as  scouring  the  seas  as 
the  advance  guards  of  the  slower  line  of  battleships,  preying 
upon  or  escorting  merchant  vessels,  blockading  ports,  and 
acting  as  convoys  for  troop  ships.  Gunboats  are  simply  light- 
draught  cruisers,  and  are  intended  for  use  in  shallow  waters 
and  rivers. 

Torpedo-boats,  as  their  name  implies,  depend  entirely  upon 
the  torpedo  as  a  weapon  of  attack,  and  they  carry  no  guns  ex- 
cept a  few  very  light  caliber  rapid-firers  to  keep  ofif  small 
boats.  Their  success  depends  on  their  ability  to  approach  a 
vessel  very  rapidly,  launch  their  torpedo  and  retreat  before 
they  are  detected  and  sunk.  Speed  is  their  great  requisite,  and 
a  torpedo-boat  like  the  Porter  can  steam  thirty-two  miles  an 
hour.  Naval  experts  consider  their  bark  worse  than  their  bite, 
because  with  the  modern  system  of  lookouts  and  searchlights, 
and  the  accuracy  and  rapidity  of  the  secondary  batteries,  it  is 
impossible  for  a  torpedo-boat  to  get  within  range  without 
exposing  itself  to  instant  destruction,  and  after  a  torpedo  fleet 
has  once  met  with  a  serious  repulse,  it  is  believed  that  it  would 
be  almost  impossible  to  get  the  crews  to  go  into  action  again. 

The  torpedo-boat  destroyer,  contrary  to  general  belief,  does 


TYPES    OF    WARSHIPS.  293 

not  carry  any  heavy  guns,  but  depends  on  its  great  speed  and 
its  ability  to  cripple  a  torpedo-boat  with  its  six-pounders  while 
keeping  out  of  range  of  the  enemy's  tubes.  All  torpedo-boat 
destroyers  carry  torpedo  tubes  themselves,  so  that  they  can  be 
used  against  the  enemy's  battleships  or  cruisers  if  the  occa- 
sion offers.  The  fastest  boat  in  the  navy  is  the  destroyer 
Bailey,  which  can  steam  thirty-four  miles  an  hour. 


294    ]VHAT  IT  MILANS  TO  llh'i:    1  V  1.  Id IIT-l SC hi  GUN. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

WHAT  IT  MEANS  TO   FIRE  AN   EIGHT-INCH   GUN. 

EFFFXT    ON    BODY — EFFFXT    OX    MIND. 

Not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  has  a  clear  idea  of  just  what 
happens  when  a  big  cannon  is  fired.  The  pliysical  manifesta- 
tions are  numerous.  Even  professors  of  chemistry  and 
physics  are  stumped  when  they  want  to  differentiate  all  the 
gases  set  loose  and  the  peculiar  effects  they  induce.  The  putT 
of  whitish  smoke,  the  Hash  of  fire,  the  dim  image  of  the  flying 
projectile,  the  roar  and  the  recoil  are  all  familiar,  but  back  of 
all  these  is  a  complex  mass  of  phenomena  most  bewildering  to 
the  mind  of  any  but  an  artillery  expert. 

First,  the  cubes,  disks,  hexagons  or  irregular  luin;)s  of 
powder  are  chemically  transformed  into  a  powerful,  expanding 
gas  the  instant  firing  takes  place.  Then  there  are  innumer- 
able by-products  that  even  chemists  do  not  understand. 

The  explosion  of  gunpowder  is  divided  into  three  distinct 
stages,  called  the  ignition,  inllammation  and  combustion.  The 
ignition  is  the  setting  on  fire  of  the  first  grain,  while  the  inflam- 
mation is  the  spreading  of  the  fliime  over  the  surface  of  the 
powder  from  the  point  of  ignition.  Combustion  is  the  burn- 
ing up  of  each  grain.  The  value  of  gunpowder  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  when  subjected  to  sufficient  heat  it  becomes  a  gas 
which  expands  with  frightful  rapidity.  The  so-called  explo- 
sion that  takes  place  when  a  match  is  touched  to  gunpowder 
is  merely  a  chemical  change,  during  which  there  is  a  sudden 
evolution  of  gases  from  the  original  solid. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  ordinary  gunpowder  on  explod- 
ing expands  about  nine  thousand  times,  or  fills  a  space  this 
much  larger  as  a  gas  than  when  in  a  solid  form.  When  this 
chemical  change  takes  place  in  a  closed  vessel  the  expansion 


WHAT  IT  MEANS  TO  FIRE  AN  EIGHT-IXC H  GUN.    297 

may  be  made  to  do  a  work  like  that  of  forcing  a  projectile 
along  the  bore  of  the  great  gun  or  test-tube  in  the  line  of 
least  resistance. 

The  chemical  composition  of  gunpowder  is  very  simple. 
The  ordinary  English  or  brown  gunpowder  used  at  present  in 
the  United  States  Navy  is  composed  of  75  per  cent,  potassium 
nitrate,  15  per  cent,  charcoal  and  10  per  cent,  sulphur.  At  the 
instant  of  explosion  the  nitrate  of  soda  gives  ofT  oxygen,  which 
combines  with  the  carbon  of  the  charcoal,  forming  carbon- 
dioxide  gas. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  only  about  43  per  cent,  by  weight 
of  the  powder  is  converted  by  the  explosion  into  gas.  The 
remaining  57  per  cent,  becomes  a  liquid  the  moment  of  explo- 
sion, and  on  solidifying  becomes  potassium  sulphate,  potas- 
sium carbonate  and  potassium  sulphide.  A  great  many  other 
combinations  take  place,  and  various  solids  are  formed  which 
have  never  been  successfully  analyzed. 

The  ordinary  charges  placed  in  the  12-inch  guns  of  the 
United  States  warships  during  this  complicated  chemical  trans- 
formation exert  a  pressure  on  the  walls  of  the  cannon  of  about 
forty-three  tons  to  the  square  inch.  This  force  serves  to  start 
the  projectile  and  develops  a  speed  of  2019  feet  per  second  by 
the  time  the  shot  reaches  the  muzzle  of  the  cannon.  Up  to  this 
stage  of  the  explosion  the  chemical  action  has  gone  on  in  per- 
fect silence.  The  tfemendous  report  which  plays  such  havoc 
with  the  nerves  of  the  gunners  is  not  caused  by  the  explosion 
itself.  But  as  the  projectile  emerges  from  the  muzzle  it  leaves 
behind  it  a  vacuum  in  the  barrel  of  the  gun,  and  the  report  is 
caused  by  the  air  in  its  rush  to  fill  up  this  empty  space. 

The  hardest  work  a  gunner  is  called  upon  to  do  is  to  stand 
the  tremendous  shock.  The  forces  exerted  by  these  gases  in 
expanding  seem  to  radiate  in  all  directions  from  the  cannon, 
as  ripples  are  caused  by  dropping  a  pebble  in  a  pool  of  still 
water.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  has  been  discovered  that  these 
lines  of  forces  are  exceedingly  complicated  affairs,  and  play 
very  queer  pranks  about  the  cannon.  As  a  result,  few  people 
know  just  which  is  the  safest  or  the  most  dangerous  position 


2i)s   117/ .^  T  IT  mi:a\s  to  Fih'i:  1  :v  Eiairr-iscH  aux. 

for  a  gunner  to  take  beside  his  gun.  The  center  of  disturbance 
at  the  moment  of  explosion  is  the  mouth  of  the  gun.  In  the 
case  of  tlie  great  13-inch  guns  on  our  monitors,  a  position 
l)ack  of  the  gun  is  much  easier  than  one  nearer  the  nmzzle. 

In  addition  to  this  force  there  is  an  immense  pressure 
exerted  on  tlie  sides  of  the  cannon,  so  that  another  distincv 
series  of  shocks  also  radiates  outward  from  the  barrel  of  tiie 
gun.  These  lines  of  force  are  influenced,  besides,  by  the  recoil 
of  the  gun,  which  tends  to  make  the  lines  curve  outward  and 
intensifies  the  shock.  These  are  in  turn  more  or  less  compen- 
sated by  the  forces  of  the  air  opposing  them  as  it  rushes  into 
the  mouth  of  the  cannon  when  the  projectile  leaves  it.  As  a 
result  of  all  these  forces,  the  atmosphere  is,  of  course,  violently 
disturbed.  Although  no  projectile  strikes  the  gunner,  whn 
must  stand  by,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  air  is  full  of  missiles  in 
the  form  of  invisible  lines  of  force  or  vibrations  which  bom 
bard,  as  it  were,  every  part  of  the  gunner's  body  at  the  same 
time. 

An  examination  and  analysis  of  the  effect  produced  upon  tho 
human  system  and  the  mind  by  the  tiring  of  a  cannon  is  most 
engrossing.  Men  generally  accounted  courageous  tremble 
violently  in  their  knees:  others  feel  nauseated:  some  have  se- 
vere headache;  a  few  have  had  their  eardrums  split  or  the 
action  of  their  heart  affected. 

Take  the  vital  organ,  the  heart,  first.  In  the  space  between 
the  right  auricle  and  ventricle  are  a  set  of  fine,  thread-like 
cords  called  the  tendineae.  The  concussion  makes  them 
tremble  like  timbers  in  a  building  when  there  is  an  earthciuake. 
In  a  weak  man.  the  chamber  of  the  heart  is  left  open  for  an 
instant;  the  opening  and  closing  springs  lose  their  control: 
the  heart  shakes:  possibly  the  chordae  tendineae  are  snapped: 
contraction  or  dillation  of  the  organ  ensues  and  in  some  in- 
stances death  follows. 

Deafness  induced  by  an  explosion  may  be  traced  to  the 
sudden  pressure  upon  the  inner  orifice  of  the  ear  and  the  tre- 
mendous vibration  set  up.  The  thin,  transparent,  fairly  bright 
membrane  called  the  drum  of  the  ear  is  burst,  like  a  piece  of 
tissue  paper  held  taut  and  forcibly  blown  upon.     Sounds  are 


WHAT  IT  MEANS  TO  FIRE  AN  EIGHT-INCH  GUN.    299 

conveyed  by  the  beating  of  a  tniy  mallet  upon  this  anvil.  If 
the  beating  is  too  rapid  and  too  forcible,  the  membranes  may 
le  ruptured,  a  temporary  disturbance  of  the  mn.d  occurs  and 
the  sufferer  becomes  dizzy. 

When  the  knees  tremble  it  is  due  to  the  nervous  shock  pro- 
duced m  the  cerebellum.  Ml  the  nerves  and  muscles  are 
thrown  into  atonic  contractions  and  relaxations  and  the  knees 

appear  to  give  way. 

Nausea  is  .Iso  caused  by  the  physiological  change  that  takes 
place  in  the  brain.  There  is  a  pressure  of  blood  there,  and  the 
stomach,  responding,  tries  to  empty  itself. 

The  whole  nervous  system,  which  resembles  a  mass  of 
fibrous  roots  running  all  over  the  body,  is  affected  when  a 
cannon  as  large  as  an  eight-inch  gun  is  fired  m  close  prox- 
imity The  nervous  tissue  of  the  body  is  divided  into  two 
different  structural  substances-the  vesicular,  which  ,s  grayish, 
and  the  fibrous,  which  is  white.  In  the  former  nervous  im- 
pressions and  impulses  originate;  by  the  latter  they  are  con- 
ducted The  gray  matter  forms  the  essential  constituent  of  all 
ganglionic  centers.  A  third  structure-chiefly  in  the  sympa- 
Thetic  system-is  called  gelatinous  nerve  tissue. 

The  nervous  substances  is  again  divided  into  two  different 
systems      The  first,  connected  directly  with  the  great  central 
mass  inclosed  in  the   skull  and  spine,   is   called  the  cerebro- 
spinal system:  the  other,  called  the  sympathetic  system,  con- 
sists of  a  double  chain  of  ganglia  with  the  branches  that  go  to 
and  come  from  them.      The  large  brain,  or  cerebellum,  is  the 
center  of  disturbance  when  the  visible  effect  is  seen  in  trem- 
bling knees.     The  cerebrum   is  the  headquarters  where  con- 
fusion succeeds  the  shock  of  the  explosion  and  nausea  ensues. 
Other  outward  manifestations  occur  when  a  gun  goes  ott^ 
For  instance,   clothes  may  be  torn   or  a   man   even  knocked 
down  by  the  concussion.     At  the  battle  of  the  Ya lu  Capt.  Philo 
McGiffin   who  was  standing  near  a  six-inch  gun.  had  his  trous- 
ers torn  into  ribbons  on  one  leg  and  a  long  rent  \'\^ ^'fj' 
his  uniform  was  as  full  of  holes  as  a  moth-eaten  J^^^et  and  he 
was  nearly  blinded  and  stunned.     Yet  he  knew  the  gun  was 
go  ng  to  be  discharged,  but  he  did  not  realize  how  close  he 


300    WHAT  IT  MEAN.S  TO  FIRE  AA  EWHT-IXCH  GUN. 

was  standing  to  the   muzzle  and  how  the  gases  liberated  by 
the  combustion  radiated  in  all  directions. 

When  the  new  battleships  Kentucky  and  Kearsarge  have 
practice  drills  in  gunnery  an  interesting  situation  will  arise. 
The  gun  turrets  are  placed  directly  over  one  another.  If  both 
guns  are  discharged  simultaneously  the  men  in  the  metallic 
confines  of  the  turrets  will  occupy  unenviable  positions. 


FOTr  Tin:  I-RBSIDEST  TRAXSMITS   orders.     303 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

HOW    THE    PRKSIDE.NT     TKA-NSMITS    HIS    OKDERS. 

ANY    PART    OF   THE   WORLD   MAY    BE    REACHED    BV    WIRE— MESSAGES 
SENT   IN    CIPHER — DESPATCH    BOATS    IN    THE    NAVY. 

How  does  the  President,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
United  States  Army  and  Navy,  maintain  communication  with 
all  the  force? 

It  is  an  elaborate  and  complicated  system,  which  has  been 
worked  out  and  perfected  by  experts. 

Its  principal  branch  is  telegraphy,  and  on  this  all  its  other 
features  depend. 

On  the  second  floor  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington 
is  the  central  station  for  the  despatch  and  receipt  of  official  war 
inessages. 

From  that  station  run  wires  which  form  connections  with 
every  military  post  and  signal  station  on  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
coasts,  and  to  the  headquarters  of  army  and  naval  commanders. 
By  a  system  of  loops  the  instruments  in  the  War  Department 
can  be  placed  in  communication  with  any  part  of  the  world 
that  is  reached  by  a  cable  or  telegraph  line. 

Nearly  all  messages  are  sent  in  cipher,  and  the  men  who 
conduct  this  branch  of  the  service  are  among  the  most  impor- 
tant and  most  confidential  employes  of  the  government  at  this 

time. 

They  are  the  men  whom  Spanish  spies  might  seek  to  tamper 

with. 

If  the  President  wishes  to  send  an  order  to  the  army  he 
makes  it  known  to  the  Secretary  of  War:  if  to  the  navy,  then 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  order  is  first  written  out  in  plain  English,  and  is  then 
handed  to  the  cipher  clerks,  who  prepare  it  for  the  wires. 


304     II (tW  THE  I'liESIDEM   TRAXsMITS   ol^hKh'S 

The  operator  who  sends  it  does  not  know  its  meaning. 

No  one  can  read  one  of  these  messages  witliout  the  aid  of 
the  cipher  code. 

One  of  these  books,  stoutly  bound  in  leather,  is  kept  on  board 
of  each  ship,  and  at  each  army  headquarters,  always  in  the 
custody  of  responsible  persons. 

On  the  ships  the  code  book  is  kept  in  a  water-tight  metal 
case,  weighted  with  lead. 

When  a  ship  goes  into  action  this  case  is  put  in  a  handy  place 
by  the  commander,  so  that  it  can  be  thrown  into  the  sea  in 
case  the  ship  is  captured  or  disabled. 

In  the  case  of  a  fleet  lying  of?  shore,  like  tliat  now  investing 
Cuba,  a  system  of  patrol  and  despatch  boats  is  maintained  be- 
tween the  fleet  and  the  shore. 

That  it  may  not  always  be  necessary  that  these  vessels  should 
go  to  a  regular  port  to  deliver  or  receive  messages,  the  coast 
signal  stations,  lighthouses,  lightships  and  naval  militia  head- 
<|uarters  have  direct  telegraph  lines  to  Washington,  and  a 
system  of  flag,  semaphone  and  rocket  signals  for  hailing  patrol 
or  despatch  boats  that  may  pass  in  sight  of  land  by  day  or 
night. 

This  great  system  of  communication  is  enormously  expen- 
sive, but  it  h.as  been  proven  to  meet  every  requirement  of  the 
service,  and  is  capable  of  extension  to  the  active  field  of  ope- 
rations in  Cuba  should  occasion  require. 


FLAGS    ON    A    MAN-OF-WAIi.  ^05 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

FLAGS    ON    A    MAN-OF-WAR. 

THE    FIGHTING    GOES     ON     UNTIL    A     NATIONAL     ENSIGN     COMES 

DOWN    FOR   GOOD. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  cabin  boy  on  board  a  man-of-war  who, 
by  his  action  in  pulling  down  the  enemy's  flag  during  a  battle, 
gained  a  victory  for  his  commander.  The  story  illustrates  the 
value  of  the  national  flag  in  a  naval  action,  and  how  much 
depends  upon  the  sailors  seeing  it  flying  from  the  masthead 
above  them.  It  was  just  at  the  beginning  of  a  battle  between 
two  ships  that  the  cabin  boy,  who  had  never  been  in  a  fight, 
asked  one  of  the  sailors  how  long  it  would  take  the  enemy  to 
surrender,  and  what  his  own  ship  would  have  to  do  to  beat  the 
other. 

"Do  you  see  that?"  asked  the  sailor,  pointing  to  the  flag 
which  was  flying  from  the  masthead  of  the  other  ship.  "As 
long  as  that  is  flying  the  other  fellows  will  fight,  but  when  it 
comes  down  they  will  stop  and  their  ship  will  surrender." 

The  cabin  boy  was  too  small  to  fight,  but  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  get  the  flag  for  his  Captain.  During  the  battle,  when 
the  ships  were  lashed  together,  he  crawled  on  board  the 
enemy's  vessel,  and  while  the  sailors  were  busy  fighting 
climbed  the  rope  ladder  which  ran  up  the  mast,  and.  pulling 
the  flag  from  its  place,  wrapped  it  around  his  body  and  carried 
it  back  to  his  own  ship.  The  sailors  were  fighting  bravely,  until 
one.  looking  up  and  seeing  that  the  flag  was  gone,  cried  out 
to  his  companions  that  the  Captain  had  pulled  down  the  flag, 
and  there  was  no  use  fighting  longer.  The  men  threw  down 
their  arms,  and  the  mistake  was  not  discovered  until  it  was  too 
late,  for  the  cabin  boy's  comrades  had  seized  the  ship. 

The  flag  of  his  country  is  what  every  sailor  and  soldier 
throughout  the  world  fights  for  during  a  battle;  when  the  flag 


306  FLAGS    OY    .4     MAX-OF-WAR. 

is  gone  they  lose  heart  and  give  up  easily.  Some  of  the 
bravest  deeds  have  been  in  defence  of  the  Hag,  and  to  get  it 
back  again  when  the  enemy  have  captured  it.  When  a  ship 
goes  into  battle  the  national  flag  is  run  up  to  the  masthead, 
the  highest  point  on  the  vessel,  where  it  tiies  until  the  engage- 
ment is  over.  Sometimes,  when  the  other  ship  is  the  stronger, 
or  its  sailors  fight  Ijetter,  and  the  Captain  sees  that  he  is  beaten, 
he  pulls  down  his  flag  to  show  the  enemy  that  he  has  had 
enough  and  wants  to  surrender.  This  act  is  called  "striking 
the  colors."  It  is  a  usual  thing  to  run  up  a  white  flag  in  the 
place  of  the  one  which  has  been  hauled  down,  but  often  the 
simple  act  of  striking  the  colors  is  enough  to  end  a  battle.  So 
long  as  the  Captain  of  a  ship  sees  any  flag  except  a  white  one 
flying  from  the  enemy's  vessel  he  will  continue  to  fire  upon  it, 
for  it  is  a  sign  that  the  sailors  have  not  given  up  and  are  ready 
to  fight  longer. 

Sometimes,  during  a  naval  battle,  the  ropes  which  hold  the 
flag  are  shot  away,  but  in  such  cases  there  are  always  some 
brave  sailors  who  will  climb  the  mast  and  put  another  in  its 
place.  During  the  Revolutionary  War,  wdien  the  ship  com- 
manded by  Paul  Jones  was  fighting  an  English  vessel,  the 
American  flag  was  shot  away  and  fell  overboard  into  the  water. 
One  of  the  sailors,  who  saw  it  fall,  jumped  after  it.  and  al- 
though he  was  wounded  swam  with  it  back  to  the  ship,  when  it 
was  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  mast  again.  When  the  flag 
went  overboard  the  Englishmen  began  to  cheer,  for  they 
thought  that  Paul  Jones  had  surrendered,  but  when  they  saw 
it  flying  from  the  masthead  once  more  they  changed  their 
minds  and  finally  surrendered  themselves.  The  action  of  the 
wounded  sailor  in  jumping  into  the  water  to  rescue  the  flag 
made  his  companions  fight  all  the  harder. 

Every  one  who  has  read  American  history  knows  about  the 
battle  of  Lake  Erie,  and  of  how  Commodore  Perry  carried  the 
flag  from  his  sinking  ship  and  hoisted  it  upon  another.  When 
the  English  Captain  saw  Perry  going  in  a  rowboat  from  the 
sinking  ship  with  the  flag  thrown  over  his  shoulder,  he  or- 
dered his  sailors  to  sink  the  boat  so  that  the  flag  couldn't  be 
hoisted   at  the    masthead   of  another    American    vessel.     He 


'Ji 


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O 


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o 

en 


o 

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o 
o 


FLAGS    ON    A    MAN-OF-WAR.  309 

knew  that  if  the  American  sailors  saw  that  their  flag  was  lost 
they  would  lose  heart  and  surrender,  and  as  he  expected,  when 
they  saw  the  flag  flying  again  they  worked  the  harder  and 
finally  beat  all  his  ships. 

A  ship  going  into  action  carries  several  flags:  the  national 
colors,  which  are  hoisted  in  the  most  prominent  place;  the 
union  jack,  the  pennant,  which  is  a  long,  narrow  streamer 
flying  from  the  mast  head,  and  a  set  of  signalflags.  which  are 
used  to  send  messages  from  one  ship  to  another.  When  a 
squadron  of  vessels  under  an  Admiral  goes  into  a  fight  the 
flagship  flies,  besides  the  other  flags  mentioned,  one  which 
denotes  the  rank  of  that  officer.  In  the  old  days,  when  war 
vessels  were  made  of  wood  and  had  three  masts,  most  of  the 
flags  were  hoisted  to  the  top  of  these  masts.  Nowadays,  how- 
ever many  of  our  fighting  ships  have  only  one  mast,  and  sev- 
eral flags  may  be  hoisted  upon  that,  but  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
are  always  at  the  top.  Sometimes  a  flag  is  hoisted  at  the  end 
of  the  yardarm.  usually  in  the  case  of  signal  flags. 

When  the  squadron  is  waiting  for  the  enemy's  ships  and 
they  are  sighted,  the  signal  "prepare  for  action"  is  run  up  on 
the  flagship.     During  all  the  naval  wars  it  has  been  the  cus- 
tom for  the  Captains  of  naval  vessels  to  have  on  board  the 
flags  of  other  countries  besides  their  own,  and  frequently  one 
of^these  flags  is  used  to  advantage.     During  one  of  the  long 
naval  wars  between  England  and  some  of  the  other  European 
countries  the  Captain  of  a  small   English  war  vessel  sighted 
several  big  French  men-of-war,  which,  did  they  attack  him. 
would  have  either  sunk  or  captured  his  vessel.     France  and 
Spain  were  fighting  against  England,  so  he  made  haste  to  pull 
down  the  British  flag  and  run  up  in  its  stead  a  Spanish  one. 
When  the  Frenchmen  saw  the  latter  flag  they  did  not  bother 
with  the  little  vessel  and  the  Englishman  escaped. 

During  the  War  of  1812  an  English  Captain  made  himself 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  through  fear  that  some  of  the  sailors 
on  board  his  ship  might  pull  down  his  flag  before  he  had 
beaten  the  enemy.  Just  before  the  battle  he  ordered  a  sailor 
to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  mast  and  nail  the  flag  there.  The 
American  ship  proved  the  better,  and  before  long  the  English- 


31C  FLAGS    OX    A     UAX-OF-WAh'. 

man  wanted  to  surrender,  but  when  he  wished  to  pull  down 
his  flag  he  couldn't.  The  sailors  were  busy  fighting,  so  the 
Captain  himself  had  to  climb  the  mast  and  tear  down  the 
British  ensign. 

There  have  been  instances  where  the  commander  of  a  ship 
nailed  his  flag  to  the  mast  and  left  it  flying  there  until  the 
vessel  sank.  The  last  object  which  appeared  above  the  water 
was  the  colors,  and  even  the  victorious  enemy  cheered  the 
sinking  flag. 


M  ARKlSMAXi^HIP.  31 1 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

MAKKS.MANSHll". 

SUPERIOR    SKILL    OF    UNCLE   SAM's    GUNNERS    DUE   TO    PRACTICE 

AND   SYSTEM. 

Our  two  naval  victories,  the  silencing  of  the  batteries  at 
Matanzas,  by  Sampson,  and  the  bombardment  of  Manila,  by 
Dewey,  have  caused  a  thrill  of  pride  to  permeate  the  breast  of 
every  true  American  citizen.  The  thing  that  has  impressed  us 
most  is  the  superior  marksmanship  of  our  gallant  defenders  of 
the  Stars  and  Stripes.  The  Spaniards  have  apparently  been 
unable  to  do  any  execution'with  their  guns,  while  every  shot 
fired  from  an  American  ship  seems  to  have  told  a  tale  of  de- 
struction. 

The  natural  query  is,  "Why  is  it?"  How,  asks  the  average 
citizen,  who  is  not  conversant  with  naval  affairs,  can  our  ships 
do  such  damage  without  retaliation?  And  the  unthinkingjones 
set  it  down  as  an  evidence  of  the  luck  of  war. 

But  it  is  no  such  thing.  It  is  the  result  of  constant  drilling 
and  a  beautifully  disciplined  navy.  There  are  too  many  calam- 
ity-howlers in  America.  It  would  be  better  should  we  blow  our 
own  horns  a  little  more.  There  is  too  great  a  tendency  to 
apologize  for  our  insufficient  navy.  Does  Matanzas  warrant 
it?  Isn't  Manila  sufficient  proof  that  our  sailor  boys  can  more 
than  take  care  of  themselves? 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  our  boys  can  give  the  defenders  of  Spain 
cards  and  spades  in  the  matter  of  marksmanship.  That  much 
has  been  proven  to  our  own  satisfaction  and  to  the  discom- 
fiture of  the  Dons.  And  if  you  come  right  down  to  it,  there 
is  no  little  comfort  in  the  assurance  of  our  superiority  in  this 
respect  over  most  of  the  navies  of  the  world. 


312  MAIN\SMANSHII\ 


THE    COST    OF    IT. 


It  is  no  inexpensive  thing,  this  drilling  of  gunners.  It  is  a 
In.xury  which  Spain  cannot  afford.  Hence  her  poor  showing 
in  the  recent  encounters  which  she  has  had  with  our  ships. 
This  fact  may  be  easily  understood  when  you  realize  that  dur- 
ing the  bombardment  of  Matanzas,  Uncle  Sam  paid  $200  every 
time  the  Puritan  discharged  one  of  hor  big  guns. 

Of  course,  in  practice  this  would  be  extremely  expensive. 
Consequently  our  navy  has  adopted  other  means  of  insuring 
proficiency  on  the  part  of  her  gunners.  Our  ships  are  obliged 
to  have  target  practice  w  ith  big  guns  at  least  once  every  three 
months,  when  the  number  of  shots  to  be  fired  is  prescribed  by 
regulations,  which  vary  as  the  men  grow  in  proficiency.  The 
great  expense  attached  to  this  necessarily  reduces  the  number 
of  shots  fired   from   each  gun. 

But  in  order  that  practice  may  be  kept  up,  daily  drills  arc 
substituted,  either  in  the  form  of  sub-caliber  or  aiming  drills. 

The  great  gun  practice  takes  place  under  conditions  as  near 
as  possible  to  those  which  would  arise  in  actual  warfare.  The 
target  is  anchored,  and  the  guns  are  trained  on  it  both  while 
the  ship  is  moving  and  while  she  is  stationary. 

This  target  is  placed  upon  a  platform  supported  by  barrels. 
Up  from  the  center  comes  a  pole,  on  the  summit  of  which  is 
attached  a  red  flag.  Then  there  are  four  protruding  canvas 
wings  or  sails,  with  a  semi-circle  painted  on  each,  so  that  no 
matter  which  way  the  target  shifts,  there  is  always  a  bulls'-eyc 
to  aim  at. 

SHOT    AND    POWDER    FOR    DRILLS. 

The  target  may  be  placed  at  any  distance  outside  of  1000 
yards  from  the  vessels.  Twelve  hundred  yards  is  usually  the 
range.  To  each  gun  is  allotted  a  certain  number  of  fires,  or 
"strings,"  as  they  are  technically  called. 

The  total  number  of  shots  fired  during  one  quarter  for  a 
ship,  say  of  the  Texas  class,  would  be  642.  Two  12-inch  guns 
would  fire  three  shots  each,  one  each   with   full  charge,  and 


> 
v. 


•Si 


V. 

-3 


MARKSMAXSHII'.  ••"1-" 

two  each  with  reduced  charges.     The  weight  of  the  shot  would 
be  800  pounds,  and   the   charge  of  powder   from   300  to  400 

pounds. 

Then  there  would  be  thirty-six  shots  for  six  six-inch  guns. 
288  from  twelve  six-pounders.  144  I'rom  six  one-pounders  and 
ninety-six  from  four'Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon.  Six  shrap- 
nel from  six-inch  guns  and  twenty-two  additional  shots  would 
be  allowed  the  secondary  battery  in  order  to  give  others  than 
those  regularly  stationed  at  the  guns  practice  in  marksman- 
ship. 

These  days  of  great  gun  drill  are  epochs  in  the  lives  of  our 
sailor  boys.  Four  observers  are  employed  to  note  the  accu- 
racy of  the  fire.  Two  are  in  small  boats  on  the  water.  They 
determine  by  means  of  graduated  T  squares  the  point  of  fall 
of  the  shot,  whether  it  be  to  the  right  or  the  left  of  the  target, 
and  whether  the  shot  has  gone  short  or  over  the  mark. 

The  other  two  observers  are  stationed  on  the  ships.  One 
notes  the  number  of  shot  and  records  the  apparent  fall  as  it 
appears  to  the  fourth  observer,  who  watches  the  flight  of  the 
projectile.  A  similar  record  of  shots  is  kept  by  each  of  the 
observers  in  the  boats.  This  system  applies  particularly  to 
when  the  ship  is  stationary.  In  moving  practice,  whenever 
possible,  the  same  system  of  recording  is  observed,  but  there 
are  times  when  this  is  impossible,  owing  to  the  condition  of 

the  sea. 

Regular  reports  are  made  to  the  admiral  of  the  fleet,  and 
the  successful  gunners  are  then  indeed  happy.  Money  prizes 
are  given  to  the  best  marksmen  of  the  various  ships,  and  quar- 
terly the  Bureau  of  Navigation  issues  a  printed  circular,  show- 
ing'the  relative  standing  of  each  ship  in  the  service  as  to  tar- 
get practice. 

This  list  contains  the  names  of  all  the  best  marksmen  of 
each  ship,  arranged  in  order  of  merit.  This  in  itself  fosters  a 
spirit  of  emulation  among  the  men  as  well  as  a  keen  rivalry 
between  the  ships,  and  even  among  the  gun  divisions  of  the 
same  ship.  The  honor  thus  gained  is  by  far  more  highly  ap- 
preciated by  Jack  than  the  mere  money  prize. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  actual  firing  of  the  big 


816  MARKl^MANy'^fllP. 

guns  is  a  great  expense.  It  is  a  luxury  which  might  easily 
bankrupt  a  nation,  if  persistently  kept  up.  Consequently,  the 
sub-caliber  and  the  aiming  drills  are  those  which  are  practiced 
daily. 

The  former  practically  brings  into  play  the  same  degree  of 
skill  in  sighting  and  manipulating  the  big  fellows.  But  in- 
stead of  actually  firing  the  great  guns,  with  their  massive 
charges,  a  rifle  or  musket  is  placed  inside  the  bore,  and  the 
shot  is  discharged  from  that.  There  is  a  circular  frame,  with 
four  supi^orts,  which  fits  inside  tlie  bore,  and  this  supposts  the 
small  firearm  in  position.  The  gunner  thus  has  practically  the 
same  opportunity  to  exercise  his  skill  and  accuracy  and  to 
manoeuvre  the  big  gun  as  he  would  have  if  it  were  heavily 
charged. 

A    PRILL    WITITOrT    STTOOTING. 

The  aiming  drill  is  a  most  interesting  operation,  in  that  no 
shot  is  actually  fired,  and  yet  the  greatest  degree  of  accuracy  is 
obtained.  In  this  drill  the  marksman  mounts  a  rifle  on  a  tri- 
pod, at  a  distance  of  usually  thirty  feet  from  the  target,  the 
operation  taking  place  on  the  main  deck. 

The  target  is  a  piece  of  blank  paper,  ruled  off  into  squares, 
and  nailed  upon  a  wooden  background  about  the  size  of  an 
ordinary  door.  .\t  the  side  of  this  stands  the  gunner's  mate, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  circular  disk  made  of  tin  and  perforated 
in  the  center  with  a  small  hole.  This  disk  has  a  handle,  and 
the  gunner's  mate  holds  it  over  the  target. 

The  man  at  the  gun  sights  his  weapon,  aiming  at  the  hole  in 
the  center  of  the  disk,  which  he  tries  to  get  as  near  the  exact 
center  of  the  target  as  possible.  As  he  squints  along  the  barrel 
he  calls  out  to  the  gunner's  mate  where  to  sight  the  disk. 

Right,  left,  up  .and  down  goes  the  piece  of  tin,  according  to 
the  direction  shouted  out  by  the  marksman.  When  he  thinks 
he  has  trained  his  rifle  so  that  it  points  directly  at  the  center 
of  the  target,  and  the  ball  would  go  through  the  hole  in  the 
disk,  he  shouts  "Stop!" 


MARKSMANSHIP.  317 

TO    GROUP   THE    SHOTS. 

Then  the  gunner's  mate  takes  a  pencil,  and  holding  the  disk 
in  position,  makes  a  mark  through  the  center  upon  the  paper 
target.  This  operation  is  repeated  three  times,  and  then  the 
next  man  has  his  trial.  The  idea  oi  the  three  shots  is  to  get 
tiiem  as  closely  together  on  the  target  as  possible— that  is.  the 
three  pencil  marks  forming  the  smallest  triangle  constitute  the 
best  marksmanship.  To  determine  the  center  of  the  triangle 
formed  by  the  three  pencil  marks  is  a  simple  mathematical 
calculation,  and  thereon  hinges  the  result  of  accuracy. 

Pistol  practice  among  the  officers  is  also  largely  indulged  in. 
The  poop  deck  is  usually  the  scene  of  this,  and  the  target  is  an 
ordinary  iron  one,  with  paint  pot  and  brush  close  at  hand. 
Somebody  will  suggest  a  trial  at  skill,  with  a  round  of  beer  to 
go  against  the  score  of  the  poorest  marksman.     But  it  is  all 

good  practice. 

Whenever  possible  our  navy  is  perfecting  itself  in  marks- 
manship. Practice  with  rifles  and  revolvers  takes  place  both 
afloat  and  ashore  at  very  frequent  intervals.  And  that  is  why 
our  navy  has  been  so  successful  in  recent  encounters.  It  is 
one  thing  not  to  flinch  under  fire  through  pure  bravery,  and 
it  is  another  thing  to  realize  that  bravery  is  backed  up  by  the 
consciousness  of  superior  skill.  And  that  is  why  our  gallant 
tars  have  won  such  universal  praise. 


r.lS  oi  I!    llCllTlMi    SHIPS. 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

OUU     FIGHTING     SHIPS. 

LIST  OF  VESSELS  COMPRISING  THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY- 
ATLANTA— Protected  cruiser;  single  screw;  commissioned 
July  19,  1886;  length,  271  feet;  breadth,  42  feet;  draught, 
16  feet;  speed,  15^  knots;  main  battery,  six  6-inch  and 
two  8-inch  breech-loading  rifles;  secondary  battery,  two 
6-pounder,  two  3-pounder  and  four  i-pounder  rapid-fire 
guns,  two  47-millimeter  Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon  and 
two  gatlings;  thickness  of  protective  deck,  1I/2  inches  on 
the  slope  and  flat;  iq  officers,  265  men;  contract  price, 
$617,000. 

BALTIMORE — Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  commis- 
sioned January  7,  1890;  length,  327  feet  6  inches;  breadth, 
48  feet  71/2  inches;  draught,  19  feet  6  inches;  speed,  20 
knots;  main  battery,  four  8-inch  and  six  6-inch  breech- 
loading  rifles;  secondary  battery,  four  6-pounder,  two 
3-pounder  and  two  i-pounder  rapid-fire  guns,  four  37-mil- 
limeter Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon  and  two  gatlings; 
thickness  of  protective  deck,  4  inches  on  slope,  25^  on  the 
fiat;  36  officers,  350  men;  price,  $1,325,000. 

BOSTON — Protected  cruiser;  single  screw;  commissioned 
May  2,  1887;  length,  271  feet  3  inches;  breadth,  42  feet  i^ 
inches;  draught,  16  feet  10  inches;  displacement,  3000 
tons;  speed,  151^  knots;  main  battery,  six  6-inch  and  two 
8-inch  breech-loading  rifles;  secondary  battery,  two  6- 
pounder,  two  3-pounder  and  two  i-pounder  rapid-fire 
guns,  two  47  and  two  37-millimeter  Hotchkiss  revolving 
cannon  and  two  gatlings;  thickness  of  protective  deck, 
•  1%  inches  on  the  slope  and  flat;  19  officers,  265  men; 
contract  price,  $619,000. 

BROOKLYN — Armored  cruiser;  completely  armored,  be- 
sides having  steel  foundation;  total  displacement  9271 
tons  and  speed  of  22  knots;  armament,  eight  8-iiich 
breech-loading  rifles,  eight  5-inch  breech-loading  rifles, 
rapid-fire,  twelve  6-pounders,  rapid-fire;   twelve  6-pound- 


OLR    FIGUTIXG    SHIl'lS.  IVM 

ers,  four  i-pounders,  three  torpedo  tubes  and  four  gatling 
guns;  46  officers,  515  men;  cost,  $2,986,000. 

CHARLESTON — Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  commis- 
sioned December  26,  1889;  length,  312  feet  7  inches; 
breadth,  46  feet  2  inches;  draught,  18  feet  7  inches;  speed, 
18  knots;  main  battery,  two  8-inch  and  six  6-inch  breech- 
loading  rifles;  secondary  battery,  four  6-pounder,  two  3- 
pounder  and  two  i-pounder  rapid-fire  guns,  four  37-mil- 
limeter Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon  and  two  gatlings; 
thickness  of  protective  deck,  3  inches  on  the  slope,  2 
inches  on  the  flat;  20  officers,  280  men;  price,  $1,017,500. 

CHICAGO — Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  commissioned 
April  17,  1889;  length,  325  feet;  breadth,  48  feet  2  inches; 
draught,  19  feet;  speed,  15  knots;  main  battery,  four  8- 
inch,  eight  6-inch  and  two  5-inch  breech-loading  rifles; 
secondary  battery,  nine  6-pounder  and  four  i-pounder 
rapid-fire  guns,  two  37-millimeter  Hotchkiss  revolving 
cannon  and  two  gatlings;  thickness  of  protective  deck, 
iJ/>  inches  on  slope  and  flat;  3;^  oftlcers,  376  men;  cost, 
$889,000. 

CINCINNATI — Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  commis- 
sioned June  16,  1894;  length,  300  feet;  breadth,  42  feet; 
draught,  18  feet;  speed,  19  knots;  main  battery,  ten  5-inch 
and  one  6-inch  rapid-fire  guns;  secondary  battery,  eight 
6-pounder  and  two  i -pounder  rapid-fire  guns  and  two 
gatlings;  thickness  of  protective  deck,  2^  inches  on 
slopes,  I  inch  on  the  flat;  20  officers,  202  men;  cost, 
$1,100,000. 

COLUMBIA^Protected  cruiser,  without  armor  belts;  6735 
tons  displacement  and  speed  of  23  knots:  armament,  one 
8-inch  breech-loading  rifle,  two  6-inch  rapid-fire  guns, 
eight  4-inch  rapid-fire  guns,  twelve  6-pounders,  four  i- 
pounders  and  four  gatling  guns;  35  officers,  429  men; 
cost,  $2,725,000. 


•*?22  OVR    FIGHTING    SHIPS. 

INDIANA — Battleship;  twin  screw;  commissioned  Novem- 
ber 20,  1895;  length,  348  feet;  breadth.  69  feet  3  inches; 
draught,  24  feet;  speed,  16  knots;  main  battery,  four  13- 
inch,  eight  8-inch  and  four  6-inch  breech-loading  rifles; 
secondary  battery,  twenty  6-pounder  and  six  i-pounder 
rapid-fire  guns  and  four  gatlings;  thickness  of  armor,  18 
inches;  36  officers,  434  men;  cost,  $3,020,000. 

IOWA — Battleship;  twin  screw;  length,  360  feet;  breadth,  72 
feet  21/2  inches;  draught,  24  feet;  speed,  17.08  knots;  main 
battery,  four  12-inch  and  eight  8-inch  breech-loading 
rifles  and  six  4-inch  rapid-fire  guns;  secondary  battery, 
twenty  6-pounder  and  four  i-pounder  rapid-fire  guns  and 
four  gatlings;  thickness  of  armor,  14  inches;  36  officers, 
450  men;  contract  price,  $3,010,000. 

MAINE — Battleship;  twin  screw;  commissioned  September 
17,  1895;  length,  318  feet;  breadth,  57  feet;  draught,  21 
feet  6  inches;  speed,  17^  knots;  main  battery,  four  10- 
inch  and  six  6-inch  breech-loading  rifles;  secondary  bat- 
tery, seven  6-pounder  and  eight  i-pounder  rapid-fire 
guns  and  four  gatlings;  thickness  of  armor,  12  inches;  34 
officers,  370  men;  contract  price,  $2,500,000. 

MARBLEHEAD — Unarmored  cruiser;  twin  screw;  com- 
missioned April  2,  1894;  length,  257  feet;  breadth,  37  feet; 
draught,  14  feet  7  inches;  speed,  19  knots;  main  battery, 
nine  5-inch  rapid-fire  guns;  secondary  battery,  six  6- 
pounder  and  two  i-pounder  rapid-fire  guns  and  two  gat- 
lings; 20  officers,  254  men;   cost,  $674,000. 

'MASSACHUSETTS— Battleship;  10,288  tons  displacement, 
and  a  speed  of  about  17  knots  when  forced;  completely 
armored,  with  only  one  fighting  top,  and  carries  four  13- 
inch  breech-loading  rifles,  four  8-inch  rapid-fire  rifles, 
twenty  6-pounders  and  four  gatling  guns;  37  officers,  438 
men;  cost,  $3,020,000. 

MINNEAPOLIS— Protected  cruiser,  not  completely  ar- 
mored; 7375  tons  displacement  and  capable  of  speeding 
23!/^   knots;  armament,   one  8-inch  breech-loading  rifle; 


OUR    FIGHTING    SHIPl^.  323 

two  6-inch  rapid-fire  guns,  eight  4-inch  rapid-fire  guns, 
twelve  6-pounders,  four  i-pounders  and  four  gathng  guns; 
38  officers,  458  men;  cost,  $2,690,000. 
MONTGOMERY— Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  length  on 
water  line,  257  feet;  breadth,  37  feet;  draught    14  feet  6 
inches;   speed,    17  knots;   main  battery,   two  6-mch   and 
eight   5-inch   rapid-fire   guns;    secondary  battery,   six  0- 
pounder  and  two   i-pounder  rapid-fire  guns  and  eleven 
gatlings;    water-tight    steel    decks,    11-16   inch    thick;    13 
officers,  228  men;  cost,  $612,500. 
NEWARK— Protected   steel    cruiser;    twin    screw;    commis- 
sioned February  2.  1891;  length,  310  feet;  breadth,  49  feet 
2  inches;  draught,  19  feet;  speed,  19  knots;  mam  battery, 
twelve   6-inch    breech-loading    rifles;    secondary   battery, 
four  6-pounder,  four  3-pounder  and  two  i-pounder  rapid- 
fire  guns,  four  37-millimeter  Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon 
and  four  gatlings;  34  officers.  350  men;  cost,  $1,248,000. 
NEW  YORK— Armored  cruiser;  twin  screw;  commissioned 
August  1,  1893;  length,  380  feet  6/.  inches;  breadth,  64 
feet  10  inches;  draught,  23  feet  3/2  inches;  speed,  21  knots; 
main  battery,  six  8-inch  breech-loading  rifles  and  twelve 
-inch  rapid-fire  guns;  secondary  battery,  eight  0-pounder 
Ind  four    I-pounder   rapid-fire   guns   and   .our    gatlmgs; 
thickness  of  armor,  4  inches;  40  officers.  526  men;  con- 
tract price,  $2,985,000. 
OLYMPI A— Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  length  on  water 
line    340  feet;  breadth.  53  feet;  draught,  21  feet  6  inches; 
speed.  20  knots;  main  battery,  four  8-inch  guns  and  ten 
5-inch  rapid-firing  guns;   secondary  battery,   fourteen  6- 
pounder  and  six  i-pounder  rapid-fire  guns  and  four  gat- 
lings; protected  steel  decks,  from  2  to  4H  inches;  20  offi- 
cers, 293  men;  cost.  $1,796,000. 
OREGON— Battleship;   twin   screw;   commissioned  July   15. 
1896;  length,  348  feet;  breadth,  69  feet  3  inches;  draught, 
24  feet;   speed,    16.79  knots;   main   battery,   four   13-inch, 
eight  8-inch  and  four  6-inch  breech-loading  rifles;  sec- 


n24  OUR    FIGHTIXa    SHU'S. 

ondary  battery,  twenty  6-pounder  and  six  i-pounder  rapid- 
fire  guns  and  four  gatlings;  armor  on  sides,  i8  inches 
thick;  32  officers,  441  men;  cost,  $3,180,000. 

PHILADELPHIA— Protected  cruiser;  twin  screw;  com- 
missioned July  28,  1890;  length,  327  feet  6  inches; 
breadth,  48  feet  714  inches;  draught.  19  feet  2^  inches; 
displacement,  4324  tons;  speed,  19K'  knots;  main  battery, 
twelve  6-inch  breech-loading  rities;  secondary  battery, 
four  6-pounder,  four  3-pounder  and  two  i -pounder  rapid- 
fire  guns,  three  37-millimeter  Hotchkiss  revolving  can- 
non and  four  gatlings;  thickness  of  protective  deck,  4 
inches  on  the  slopes,  21/  inches  on  the  flat;  34  officers, 
350  men;  cost,  $1,350,000. 

RALEIGH— Protected  Cruiser;  twin  screw;  length,  300  feet; 
breadth,  42  feet;  draught,  18  feet;  speed,  19  knots;  main 
battery,  one  6-inch  gun  and  ten  5-inch  rapid-fire  guns; 
secondary  battery,  eight  6-pounder  and  four  i -pounder 
rapid-fire  guns  and  11  gatlings;  protected  steel  deck,  2^ 
inches  thick;  20  officers,  293  men;  cost,  $1,100,000. 

SAN  FRANCISCO— Protected  ^ruiser;  twin  screw;  com- 
missioned November  15,  1890;  length,  310  feet;  breadth, 
49  feet  2  inches;  draught,  18  feet  9  inches;  displacement, 
4098  tons;  speed,  I9>4  knots;  main  battery,  twelve  6-inch 
breech-loading  rifles;  secondary  battery,  four  6-pounder, 
four  3-pounder  and  tv/o  i -pounder  rapid-fire  guns,  three 
37-millimeter  Hotchkiss  revolving  cannon  and  four  gat- 
lings; thickness  of  protective  deck,  3  inches  on  the  slope 
and  2  inches  on  the  flat;  33  officers,  350  men;  cost, 
$1,428,000. 

TEXAS — Battleship;  6315  tons  displacement  and  a  speed  of 
17  knots;  carries  two  12-inch  breech-loading  rifles;  six 
6-inch  breech-loading  rifles,  twelve  6-pounders;  six  i- 
pounders  and  two  37-millimeter  Hotchkiss  repeating  can- 
non; 38  officers,  456  men;  cost,  $2,690,000. 


or/,'   FKiH'rrxd  ships. 


Additional  Vessels  of  tlie  United  States  Navy. 

Their  Dimensions,  Capacity  and  Cost. 


VESSELS. 


Double  Turret  Monitors. 


Amphitrite.... 
Miantonomah 
Monadnock  — 
Monterey..  ... 

Puritan 

Terror 


Single  Turret  Monitors. 

Ajax  

Canonicus 

Catskill 

Comanche 

Jason 

Lehigh 

Mahopac 

Manhattan ■ 

Montauk • 

Nahant 

Nantucket 

Passaic 

Wyandotte 


Gunboats. 


Annapolis  .. . 
Bennington.  . 

Castine 

Concord 

Helena 

Machias 

Marietta 

Nashville 

Newport 

Petrel 

Princeton.. 

Vicksburg... 

Wheeling  — 

Wilmington. 

Vorktown.. 


Special  Class. 

Bancroft 

Dolphin 

Torpedo  Cruiser... 
Vesuvius 


Keel 
Laid. 


Year. 


Speed 
Knots. 


1S74 
1874 
1874 
T889 

1S75 
1S74 


1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 


1896 

1888 

1891 

1888 

1894 

1891 

1896 

1S94 

1896 

1887 

1896 

1896 

1S96 

1894 

1887 


1891 
18S3 


Length 
Load 

Water 
Line. 


Ft.  In. 


12.0 
10.5 
14-5 
13.6 
12.4 
12.0 


5-6 

6 

6 

5-6 

5-6 

5-6 

6 

6 

5-6 

5-6 

5-7 

5-6 

6 


12.0 

17-5 
16.0 
16.8 
13.0 

15-4 
12.0 
14.0 
12.0 

11  7 

12  o 
12.0 

12  o 

13  o 
16. 14 


14-3 
15-5 


259.6 
259.6 
259  6 
256.  o 
289.6 
259.6 


Mean 
Draught 


Ft.  In. 


D  -a 

in  ^ 

u  o 


In. 


21.4 


168.0 
230.0 
204.0 
230.0 
250.9 
204.0 
174.0 
220.0 
168.0 
176  o 
168.0 
168.0 
174  o 
250  9 
230.'^ 

188  o 
240  o 


252.0 


14.6 

14.6 

14.6 

14.10 

18.0 

14.6 


0).-. 

!£ 

O 


12.0 
14  o 
12.0 
14.0 
9.0 
12.0 
12.0 

II. o 
12.0 

11  7 

12  O 
12.0 
12.0 

9.0 
14.0 


II. 6 
14-3 


171 
149 
171 

,191 
222 

151 


Cost. 


$3,178,046 
3,178,046 
3.178.046 
1,628,950 
3,178,046 
3,178,046 


626,582 
622,963 
427.766 
613,164 
422,766 
422,766 

635.374 
628,879 
423,027 

413.515 
408,091 

423.171 
633.327 


146 
197 
154 
193 
I 

154 
146 
169 
146 

146 
146 
146 
170 
192 


130 
115 


70 


230,000 
490,000 

318.500 
490,000 
280,000 
318,000 
230,000 
280,000 
230, coo 
247,000 
230,000 
230,000 
230,000 
280,000 

455.000 


250,000 

315.000 


350,000 


;;2s 


oi  I!   ri(;iiTi\(i   .s7///'N. 


ADDITIONAL  VESSELS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVY.— Continned. 


VESSELS. 


Keel 
Laid. 


Year. 


Speed 
Knots. 


Length 
Load 

Water 
Line 


Ft.  In. 


Mean 
Draught. 


Ft.   In 


m  fi 
£« 

-0 

a 

ca. 

-r  C 

u 

I.H      U 

.-s 

r^  S 

!f= 

< 

0 

In. 

Cost. 


Torpedo  Boa's. 

Bailey 

Gushing 

Dahlgren 

Davies 

Du  Pont. 


1897 
1888 
1897 
1897 
1896 

Ericsson \   1892 

1897 
1896 

1897 
1897 
1897 
1897 
1897 
1897 
1896 
1896 
1896 
1896 


Farragut 

Foote 

Fox 

Goldsborough 

Gwin 

McKee 

MacKenzie 

Morris 

Porter 

Plunger   

Rodgers 

Rowan  

Stiletto 

Stringham 

Talbot 

T.  A.  M.  Craven 
Winslow ... 


1897 
1897 
1897 
1896 


30  0 

205.0 

6.0 

22.5 

139. 0 

4.11 

23 

30-5 

147.0 

4-7 

.   . . 

22.5 

146.0 

5-4 

.... 

27-5 

175-7 

5-6 

20 

24.0 

149.0 

4-9 

■■ii 

^0.0 

210.0 

6  0 

.... 

24.5 

160.6 

5  0 

20 

22.5 

146  0 

5-4 

.... 

30.0 

191. 8 

5-0 

.... 

20.0 

100.0 

36 

20.0 

106.6 

4-3 

.... 

20.0 

106.6 

4-3 

.... 

22.5 

147-3 

4.6 

.... 

27-5 

175-9 

5-6 

20 

8.0 

85.0 

24-5 

160.0 

5-0 

20 

26.0 

170.6 

5-6 

20 

18.2 

88.6 

3-0 

6 

30  0 

225  0 

6.6 

... 

20.0 

100. 0 

3.6 

.... 

30-5 

147.0 

4-7 

24-5 

160.4 

5-0 

20 

1^210,000 
82,750 

194,000 
81,546 

147,000 

113.500 

227,500 
97.500 
85,000 

214,500 
39,000 
45,000 
48,500 
89,000 

147,000 

150,000 
97.500 

100,000 
25,000 

236,000 
39,000  ■ 

194,000 
97.500 


BOATS  BOUGHT  FROM   BRAZIL,  MARCH  14,  1898. 


Unarmored  Steel  Vessels 

Admiral  Ahreuall 

Amazonas 


1897 
1897 


22.0 
22.0 


330  o 
330.0 


16.10 
16.10 


3-5 
3-5 


300 
300 


These  last  two  boats  are  now  named  Albany  and  New 
Orleans  respectively. 

There  are  five  battleships  now  under  construction  of 
11,520  tons  displacement,  10,000  horse-power;  six  gunboats  of 
1000  tons  displacement,  800  horse-power;  about  twenty  tor- 
pedo-boats, for  which  bids  have  been  called.  A  submarine 
torpedo-boat,  which  was  being  built,  has  recently  been  com- 
pleted; also  a  tug  of  225  tons  displacement  and  400  horse- 
power is  now  under  construction. 


on;   ri(;iiTi\<:   siiirs.  :^2!) 

OLD  NAVY  VESSELS:  Old  Iron  Vessels— Alarm.  1874; 
Alert,  1873;  Michigan,  1844;  Monocacy,  1863;  Pinta,  1865: 
Ranger,  1873.  Old  Wooden  Vessels— Adams,  1874;  Alliance, 
1873:  Enterprise,  1873;  Essex.  1874:  Hartford,  1858;  Lancas- 
ter, 1858;  Marion,  1871;  Mohican,  1872;  Thetis.  ;  Yantic, 

1864. 

The  above  are  all  steam  vessels.  In  addition  to  the  old  navy 
vessels  enumerated  above  are  the  followmg  sailing  vessels: 
Receiving-ship  Constellation.  10  guns,  built  1854;  Training- 
ships  Monongahela,  12  guns,  built  1862.  and  Portsmouth.  15 
guns,  buih  1843.  and  School-ships  Jamestown.  St.  Mary's  and 

Saratoga. 

The  following-named  steel,  iron  and  wooden  steam  tugs  are 
a  part  of  the  naval  force:  Fortune.  Leyden.  Nina.  Rocket. 
Standish.  Triton.  Iwana.  Wahneta.  Narketa.  Traffic.  Unaddla 
and  No.  5.     Their  horse-power  varies  from  147  to  500  each. 

FIVE    GREAT    BATTLESHIPS. 

In  addition  to  the   ships   mentioned   above,   the   United 
States  is  building  f^ve  great  battleships.     The  Illinois,  Ala- 
bama  and   Wisconsin  are  rapidly  advancing,    and   will  be 
launched   in  the  fall.     Their  cost  will   be  about  |3,ooo,ooo 
each.     As  the  vessels  are  sister  ships,  a  description  of  one 
applies  equallv  to  the  others,  and  the  principal  dimensions 
and  general  features  are— length  on    load    water    line,    368 
feet;    beam,    extreme,    72   feet   2.5    inches;    displacement, 
II  525   tons;  draught,  23  feet  6  inches;  speed   (estimated), 
le'knots  ;  complement,  490.     These  ships  are  the  most  formi- 
dable battleships  we  have  vet  designed.     The  main  battery 
will  consist  of  four    13-inch    breech-loading   rifles,    supple- 
mented   bv   fourteen   6-inch    rapid-fire    guns.     The    13-inch 
euns  are  mounted  in  two  balanced  barbette  turrets  of  15- 
inch  Harveyized  steel— the  defensive  equivalent  of  twenty- 
two  inches  of  ordinary  steel-while  the  face   plates   about 
the  gun-ports  are  two  inches  thicker.     The  Kearsarge  and 
Kentucky  were  recently  launched  at    Newport   News    Va. 
and  are  among  the  most  formidable  battleships  "^  the^vorld 
These  are  sister  ships,   having  an   estimated    speed   ol   ib 
knots  ;  368  feet  in  length  ;  a  draught  of  23  feet  6  mches  ;  dis- 
placenient  of  10,000  tons  ;  officers  and  men  525  ;  ^viH  cost  in 
round  numbers  $3,000,000  each. 


•■;'•'  FIGHTER,^  BELOW    DECKH. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

FIGHTEliS     HKIOW     DKCKS. 

MEN    nf)\VN    THERE    TOIL    AND    SUFFER,    BUT    THEY    CANNOT    SEK 

THE    BATTLE. 

"Captain  Cook,  keep  your  men  below  the  protective  deck 
informed  of  any  advantage  we  may  gain,"  said  Commodore 
Schley.  Speaking  loudly  to  overcome  the  noise  of  the  fright- 
ful guns,  the  gallant  captain  of  the  Brooklyn  said,  with  a  smile: 

"I  always  do  that.  sir.  I  consider  it  necessary  for  the  esprit 
de  corps." 

Stepping  into  the  conning  tower,  he  called  down  the  tubes: 

"Tell  the  men  below  that  the  Maria  Teresa  is  running 
ashore." 

At  the  same  time  E.xecutive  Officer  Mason  rushed  to  the 
firing  turrets  and  called  to  the  men  the  same  joyful  news. 

It  was  July  3,  and  the  excitement  of  the  first  call  to  battle 
had  hardly  subsided  on  the  big  cruiser  Brooklyn  when  the 
incident  just  described  occurred.     Commodore  Schley  stood 


FIGHTERS  BELOW  DECKS.  333 

upon  a  small  temporary  bridge  running  about  the  conning 
tower,  while  Captain  Cook  spent  his  time  between  the  interior 
of  the  tower,  where  he  directed  the  machinery,  and  the  plat- 
form, where  he  could  see  the  enemy. 

Fighting  for  the  honor  of  America  against  three  better-pre- 
pared and  more  heavily  armored  ships  of  Spain,  this  splendid 
type  of  the  American  navy  was  one  mass  of  flame  and  smoke 
us  she  hurled  out  defiance  and  death,  with  machine-like  regu- 
larity, and  yet  but  one-third  of  the  entire  crew  could  see  the 
enemy  or  any  part  of  the  fighting.  In  the  big  turrets  half- 
naked  men  worked  behind  the  steel  walls  with  no  knowledge 
of  how  the  battle  went,  and  below  the  protective  deck  fully 
.?oo  or  more  men  worked  under  the  glare  of  electric  light, 
keeping  this  great  engine  of  destruction  mechanically  and 
rapidly  at  work.  The  big  turret  eight-inch  guns  could  not 
have  done  their  deadly  shooting  even  with  the  trained  eyes 
guiding  them  had  not  the  men  below  sent  up  the  ammunition, 
and  the  Brooklyn  could  not  have  kept  up  her  speed  had  it 
not  been  for  the  engineer  and  fireroom  force  working  below 
the  deck  like  fiends. 


WORKING    THE    BIG    GUNS. 

The  men  in  the  turrets  of  five-inch  steel  see  as  little  as  the 
men  below  deck,  except  that  once  in  a  while  they  get  a  glimpse 
of'the  object  fired  at.  When  the  ships  of  Spain  were  sighted 
coming  out  on  the  eventful  morning,  the  eight  and  five-inch 
guns  were  all  loaded,  and  in  each  turret  within  two  minutes 
after  the  summons  eleven  men  stood  half-naked  awaiting  the 

word  to  fire. 

The  chief  of  the  turret,  a  lieutenant.. is  in  the  hood,  his  eye 
to  the  telescope,  gets  the  line  of  his  gun  on  the  harbor  and 


334  FIGHTERS   BELOW    IHUKS. 

awaits  the  signal.  "Five  tliousand  yards,"  sings  out  an  orderly 
in  the  turret  opening,  and  the  gun  goes  up  to  the  proper  eleva- 
tion as  the  lieutenant  in  the  hood  orders  the  elevating  gear 
turned. 

The  number  one  man  at  the  gun  connects  the  electric 
wire  to  the  primer,  with  the  hood's  hand  firing  apparatus,  and 
all  is  waiting.  "Commence  firing,"  is  the  order,  and  quickly 
the  answer  comes.  The  turret  lieutenant's  hand  closes  on  the 
electric  apparatus  and  the  gun  jumps  back  a  foot  or  more  as 
no  pounds  of  exploding  powder  drives  a  250-pound  shell 
from  the  muzzle  of  the  great  piece  at  a  rate  of  2080  feet  per 
second. 

Then  before  the  roar  has  ceased  ihe  hand  of  the  man  in 
charge  of  the  turret  touched  the  electric  Ic\er,  and  the  great 
700  tons  of  steel  is  moved  quickly  and  almost  noiselessly 
around  until  the  other  gun  of  the  twins  is  in  the  same  posi- 
tion as  the  first  one  had  been. 

Slowly  the  muzzle  comes  up  to  the  right  elevation;  once 
more  the  fingers  close  on  the  electric  handle,  and  another  250 
pounds  of  steel  shoot  away  on  a  death  errand. 


QUICK    WORK   IN    RELOADING. 

If  you  could  have  looked  in  this  particular  turret  on  that 
memorable  and  glorious  morning  of  July  .3,  you  would  hav. 
seen  a  picture  of  activity  that  would  have  amazed  you.  Hardly 
had  gun  number  one  belched  forth  ics  defiance  to  the  group  of 
Spanish  ships,  when  the  five  men  behi.id  it.  until  that  minute 
statues  of  inactivity,  spring  into  life.  No.  2  and  No.  4  open 
the  breech,  wash  ofT  the  "mushroom"  and  gas  check  with  a 
sponge,  oil  the  breech  plug,  extract  the  exploding  primer  and 
sec  the  vent  clear.     No.  4  seizes  the  long  bristle  sponge,   wet 


FIGHTERK  BELOW  DECKS.  335 

with  water,  and  assisted  by  No.  3.  sponges  the  gun,  puts  aside 
the  sponge  and  seizes  the  rammer  ready  to  drive  home  the 

new  charge. 

While  they  have  been  working  there  have  appeared  at  the 
top  of  the  ammunition  hoist  new  shells  and  new  ammunition, 
and  the  officer  in  command  of  the  turret  cried  "load." 

No.  5  raises  the  ammunition  corner  of  the  hoist,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  No.  5  of  the  other  gun,  grasps  the  handles 
upon  the  carriage  and  swings  it  to  the  rear  of  the  gun.  The 
projectile  is  f^rst  on  the  left,  and  No.  3  adjusts  the  primer, 
while  No.  4.  assisted  by  No.  6.  rams  home  the  2SO-pound  pro- 
jectile. 

Then  in  quick  succession  No.  5.  No.  4  and  No.  6  ram  in  the 
two  charges  of  powder  in  packages  of  fifty-five  pounds  each, 
done  up  in  serge  or  muslin  and  in  grains  weighing  an  ounce 
and  one-qtiarter  each.  No.  2  closes  the  breech.  No.  i  again 
connects  the  wire  and  the  gun  is  ready  to  tire. 

All  this  has  taken  just  four  minutes,  and  with  two  guns  the 
big  turret  is  shooting  once  every  two  minutes. 


MEN   WHO   SEND   UP   AMMUNITION. 

« 

But  where  are  the  mysterious  hands  that  send  up  these  death- 
dealing  charges  to  the  guns  in  such  a  ghostlike  way?  Down 
below  the  water-line  of  the  ship,  beneath  the  protective  deck, 
is  a  naked,  perspiring  crowd  of  men,  their  eyes  effectually 
closed  to  the  changing  scene  of  battle,  but  their  senses  keenly 
alive  to  the  fact  that  torpedo  or  shell  below,  or  through  the 
armor  belt,  may  mean  death.  These  men  work  with  an  energy 
that  proves  their  patriotism  and  devotion  to  the  fiag.  On  this 
day  in  question  they  sent  up  to  the  various  turrets  and  guns 
over  70,000  pounds  of  ammunition,  taking  it  carefully  out  of  the 
big  magazines  without  accident. 


336  FIGHTERS  BELOW    DEVKH. 

Down  the  hoists  and  chutes  comes  the  powder  smoke  to 
add  to  the  already  high  temperature  of  the  handling-room,  fol- 
lowed by  the  hot  saltpeter  water  from  the  sponging  of  the 
guns,  making  the  decks  slippery  and  l)urning  blisters  on  the 
bare  backs  of  the  men  underneath,  who.  groping  and  choKing. 
feeling  their  way  through  the  dense  smoke,  go  silently  and 
obediently  about  their  work  with  but  one  thought  and  aim  in 
view — to  keep  these  cars  and  hoists  filled  with  powder  and  pro- 
jectiles, not  knowing  how  the  battle  is  raging  until  a  cheer  is 
finally  heard  from  deck,  when  their  spirits  brighten  and  an  old 
salt  will  exclaim: 

"I  guess  they  must  have  hit  "em  that  time!" 

Then  he  goes  up  and  expectorates  on  a  large  shell  for  good 
luck,  or,  as  a  yell  is  heard,  "Armor-piercing,  (luick,"  and  the 
shells  are  quickly  changed,  he  takes  an  old  oil  rag  and  rubs 
the  cap  of  the  projectile,  saying:  "That'll  make  you  bite  bet- 
ter." The  young  boy  of  the  new  navy,  who  has  been  in  the 
service  as  many  months  as  the  old  salt  has  years,  exclaims  to 
his  shipmates: 

"Ah!    what's  he  givin'  us?" 

That  was  the  routine  of  the  handling-room  on  the  3d  of  July, 
except  that  once  in  a  while  the  rush  was  broken  by  a  care- 
lessly-handled shell  dropping.     Fortunately  it  didn't  explode. 


TFTMPERATURE     OVER     l6o     DEGREES. 


Down  beneath  the  protective  deck,  informed  of  the  glories  of 
that  day's  fighting  only  by  Captain  Cook's  bulletin  through 
the  speaking-tube,  men  worked  in  a  pit  below  the  water  in  a 
temperature  of  over  160  degrees.  From  the  funnels  the  black 
smoke  pouring  forth  told  that  stokers,  coal-passers  and  fire- 
men were  working  like  riends  to  give  the  ship  more  momen- 
tum, so  that  the  foe  would  be  captured.  At  the  engines  Engi- 
neer Carter  and  his  assistant,  Mr.  Patton.  watched  every  pul- 


FldHTEHS   Bi:iJ)\V   JUJCKS.  :yS[) 

sation  and  encouraged  the  men  to  greater  efforts  to  produce 
more  steam.  In  the  stoke  holds  men  toiled  amid  the  tierce 
flames  that  licked  out  at  them  each  time  the  doors  opened  for 
coal  or  the  long  slice  bars  went  in. 


340  srAIWS    FIGHTING    SHIPS. 

CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

Sl'AIX'S     FI(;HTIA(i     SHU'S. 

COMPILED  MAINLY  1-RU.u  A  "LIST  OI"  THE  BATTLESHIPS,  CRUIS- 
ERS AND  TORPEDO-BOATS  OF  THE  SPANISH  NAVY,"  PRE- 
PARED IN  THE  MILITARY  INFORMATION  DIVISION  AT 
WASHINGTON. 

Spain  has  but  two  war  vessels  that  are  rated  in  the  class  of 
battleships,  the  Vitoria  and  the  Pelayo,  and  the  former  is  a 
"broadside"  of  antiquated  model,  used  as  a  training-ship  here- 
tofore, but  understood  to  be  undergoing  equipment  with  5.5- 
inch  rapid-fire  guns  for  war  service.  She  is  an  old  iron  vessel 
of  7250  tons  displacement,  318  feet  3  inches  long,  55  feet  10 
inches  beam,  and  a  maximum  draught  of  25  feet  3  inches.  She 
has  a  5.5-inch  armor  belt,  and  her  speed  is  11  knots.  Her 
normal  coal  supply  is  875  tons,  and  her  complement  of 
men  561. 

The  Pelayo  is  a  rather  powerful  battleship  of  steel,  of  9900 
tons  displacement,  330  feet  long,  66  feet  beam,  24  feet  11  inches 
draught.  She  carries  an  armor  belt  17.75  inches  thick,  in- 
creasing to  19.25  about  the  barbette  in  which  her  guns  are 
mounted,  and  has  a  4-inch  steel  defensive  deck.  Her  arma- 
ment consists  of  two  12.5-inch  and  two  ii-inch  heavy  ord- 
nance, one  6.2-inch  and  twelve  4.7-inch  guns,  six  smaller 
rapid-fire  and  twelve  machine  guns,  and  she  has  seven  torpedo 
tubes.  Her  speed  is  16  knots,  coal  supply  800  tons,  comple- 
ment 600  men. 

There  is  another  old  broadside  iron  ship,  the  Numancia,  of 
about  the  same  size  and  power  as  the  Vitoria,  which  is  re- 
ported to  be  receiving  new  machinery  and  new  armament  in 
6.2-inch  and  4.7-inch  rapid-lire  guns.  She  has  been  classed 
rather  as  a  port-defense  vessel  than  a  battleship,  and  can  make 
only  8  knots. 

But  Spain  is  pretty  strong  in  first-class  armored  cruisers. 
The  Emperador  Carlos  V  is  a  formidable  vessel  of  9235  tons 
displacement,  380  feet  long  with  a  ram  bow,  67  feet  beam  and 


SPAIVS    riGHTIXG    .S/7/P.S'.  341 

25  feet  draught,  and  her  speed  is  20  knots.  Her  armor  belt 
consists  of  only  two  inches  of  Harvey  steel,  except  about  the 
gun  turrets,  which  are  placed  one  forward  and  one  aft,  and 
there  the  armor  is  ten  inches  thick.  Each  turret  carries  a  big 
ii-inch  Hontoria  gun,  and  the  rest  of  the  armament  consists 
of  ei-ht  5.5-inch  rapid-fire  guns,  four  3-9-inch,  two  2.7-mch, 
four  2  2-inch  and  six  machine  guns.  There  are  six  torpedo 
tubes;  the  coal  capacity  of  the  %essel  is  1200  tons,  and  the 
complement  of  men  535- 

There  are  six  other  modern  armored  cruisers  of  7000  and 
one  of  6840  tons.     To  three  of  these,  the  Cardenal  Cisneros. 
Cataluna  and  Princesa  de  Asturias,  the  same  description  ap- 
plies    Each  is  347  feet  10  inches  long,  61  feet  beam  and  21  teet 
10  inches  draught,  has  a  12-mch  armor  belt,  reduced  to  10.5 
at  the  gun  position,  which  is  "central  battery,"  and  a  two-inch 
steel  protective  deck.     The  speed  is  20  knots,  and  the  arma- 
ment consists  of  two  II -inch  guns  (turrets  fore  and  aft),  ten 
5  5-inch  rapid-fire,  two  2.7-inch,  four    2.2-inch,  four  1.4-mch 
and  two  machine  guns.     Each  has  also  eight  torpedo  tubes, 
carries  a  coal  supply  of  1200  tons  and  has  500  officers  and  men. 
The  other  three,  7000  tons,  are  the  Almirante  Oquendo,  the 
Infanta  Maria  Teresa,  and  the  Vizcaya,  and  answer  to  the 
same  description,  except  that  the  Infanta  ^laria  Teresa  has 
slightly  exceeded  the  speed  of  20  knots  with  which  the  others 
arJ  credited.     Each  is  340  feet  long,  65  feet  beam  and  21  feet  6 
inches  draught.    The  armor  belt  is  12  inches,  except  around 
the  gun  position  (central  battery),  where  it  is  10.5  inches,  and 
the  steel  deck  is  three  inches  thick.     The  armament  of  the 
Almirante  Oquendo  consists  of  two  ii-inch  guns  (turrets  fore 
and  aft),  ten  5.S-inch  Hontoria,  eight  2.2-inch  and  eight  1.4- 
inch  rapid-fire  and  two  machine  guns.     That  of  the  Infanta 
Maria  Teresa  differs  from  this  only  in  having  both  the  ii-inch 
and  the  5.5-inch  guns  of  the  Hontoria  type,  and  that  of  the 
Vizcaya  only  in  having  5-S-inch  guns,  as  well  as  those  of  small 
caliber  of  the   rapid-fire  type.     Practically  the  three  are  of 
equal  power,  and  each  carries  a  coal  supply  of  1200  tons,  and 
a  complement  of  500  men.    The  Cristobal  Colon,  6840  tons,  is 
slightly   smaller  and  less  heavily  armed,   but  has  the   same 
speed.    Her  length  is  328  feet,  beam  59  feet  8  inches,  draught 


342  f^PAIX'8    FIGHTIXa    SHIPS. 

24.  She  has  only  six  inches  of  armor  plate  and  a  1.5-inch  pro- 
tective deck.  Her  two  large  guns  are  10  inch,  and  mounted 
in  barbettes,  one  forward  and  one  aft.  The  rest  of  her  arma- 
ment consists  of  ten  6-inch  rapid-fire  guns,  six  4.7-inch,  ten 
2.2-inch,  ten  1.4-inch  and  two  machine  guns.  She  has  four 
torpedo  tubes,  coal  supply  of  1000  tons,  complement  450  men. 

These  include  all  of  Spain's  fighting  ships  of  the  first  class, 
but  she  has  several  second-class  cruisers.  The  largest  of 
these,  the  Alfonso  XIII,  might  fairly  be  rated  first  class,  as 
she  displaces  5000  tons  and  has  a  speed  of  20  knots.  She  is 
318  feet  6  inches  long,  50  feet  6  mches  beam,  20  feet  draught, 
and  is  protected  with  a  4.5-inch  steel  deck  over  engines  and 
machinery.  Her  armament  consists  of  four  7.8-inch  Hontoria 
guns,  six  4.7-inch,  six  2.2-inch,  six  1.4-inch  rapid-fire  and 
three  machine  guns.  She  has  five  torpedo  tubes,  can  carry 
1200  tons  of  coal  and  is  manned  by  276  officers  and  seamen. 

Next  to  her  is  the  Lepanto,  4826  tons,  318  feet  6  inches  long, 
50  feet  6  inches  beam,  20  feet  draught,  protected  by  4.75-inch 
steel  deck;  speed,  20  knots.  Her  armament  is  four  7.8-inch 
Hontorias,  six  4.7-inch  rapid-fire,  six  6-pounders,  four 
3-pounders  and  five  Maxims.  She  has  five  torpedo  tubes,  car- 
ries 1 100  tons  of  coal  and  276  men. 

The  unarmored  and  unprotected  steel  cruiser  Reina 
Christiana  is  of  3520  tons  displacement,  282  feet  2  inches  long, 
42  feet  7  inches  beam,  16  feet  5  inches  draught  and  has  a  speed 
of  17.5  knots.  She  is  armed  with  six  6.2-inch  Hontoria  guns, 
two  2.7-inch,  three  2.2-inch,  two  1.5-inch  rapid-fire,  six 
3-pounders  and  two  machine  guns.  She  has  five  torpedo 
tubes;  coal  capacity,  600  tons;  complement  of  men,  375.  Of  a 
similar  type,  but  of  3342  tons  displacement,  are  the  Aragon, 
Castilla  and  Navarra.  The  last  named  dififers  slightly  in 
model  from  the  other  two.  The  Aragon  and  Castilla  are  each 
246  feet  long,  45  feet  11  inches  beam  and  20  teet  11  inches 
draught,  have  a  speed  of  14  knots,  a  coal  supply  of  470  tons, 
and  300  men.  The  Navarra  differs  in  these  items  only  in 
being  13  feet  i  inch  shorter,  3  feet  4  inches  less  beam  and  7 
inches  less  draught.  The  armament  of  the  Aragon  is  six  6.2- 
inch  Hontoria,  two  3-3-inch  Krupp,  four  2.9-inch  and  two  ma- 
chine guns;  that  of  the  Castilla  four  5.9-inch  Krupp,  two  4.7- 


m 

1 1'.  J  . 


mm 


SPAIN'^   i-ifiHTfxa  sfirrs.  34:) 

inch  two  3.3-incli  and  four  2.9-inch,  eight  rapid-fire  and  two 
"Lmne  guns;  the  Navarra  four  S.9->nch.  two  47-ch  two 
3.4-inch,  four  2.9-inch  and  four  machnie  guns.  Each  vessel 
haf  two  torpedo  tubes.  ,    ,      o  ■        w.. 

Tl-  next  in  size  are  the  Alfonso  XII  and  the  Reina  Mer- 
cedes; each  of  3090  tons.  Length.  278  feet  10  u.ches;  beam. 
42  feet  7  inches;  draught,  16  feet  5  mches;  speed.  i/-5 /^"o^s. 
coal  supply.  600  tons;  complement.  300  mem  Each  has  five 
torpedo  tubes,  but  the>r  armaments  d.fYer.  The  Alfonso  XI 
carries  six  6.2-inch  Hontor.a,  two  2.7-inch  and  --  6-P^nnder 
rapid-fire,  four  3-pounder  and  five  machme  guns.  The  Re.na 
Mercedes  has  six  6.2-inch  Hontoria.  two  2.7-inch  three  2.2- 
inch    rapid-fire,    two    1.5-inch,    six    1.4-inch    and    two    ma-, 

chine  guns.  .      ,      ^^  .  ^^.^ 

Of  other  Spanish  cruisers,  the  largest  is  the  Velasco    1152 
tons   209  feet  11  inches  long,  29  feet  3  ^nches  Deam.  12  feet  5 
inches  draught;  speed,  14.3  knots;  coal  supply.  220  tons;  com- 
plement,  173  men.     She  is  armed  with  three  S-Q-mch  Arm- 
strong guns,  two  2.7-inch  Hontorias  and  two  machme  guns. 
There  are  five  cruisers  of  1130  tons  each-the  Conde  de  Ven- 
adito    Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa.  Don  Juan  de  Austria,  Infanta 
Isabel  and  Isabel  II.     The  description  answers  precisely  for 
all  except  in  details  of  armament.     Each  is  210  feet  long    32 
feet  beam  and   12  feet  6  inches  draught;  has  a  speed  of  14 
knots  a  coal  supply  of  220  tons,  and  130  men.    The  armament 
of  the  Conde  de  Venadito  is  four  4.7-inch  Hontoria  guns,  two 
2  7-inch  two  rapid-fire  and  five  machine  guns.    The  others  are 
substantially  the  same  in  power.    There  are  also  three  cruisers 
of  1030  tons  each-the  Isla  de  Cuba,  Isla  de  Luzon  and  the 
Marques  de  Ensenada.     Each  is  185  feet  long,  30  feet  beam 
and  II  feet  6  inches  draught.     The  first  two  named  have  a 
speed  of  16  knots  and  the  last  15;  each  can  carry  160  tons  of 
coal    and  the  Isla  de  Cuba  and  Isla  de  Luzon  have  160  and 
the  Marques  de  Ensenada  164  men.    The  armament  of  each  of 
the  first  two  is  four  4.7-inch  Hontoria.  four  6-pounder  rapid- 
fire    two  3-pounder  and  two  machine  guns,  and  that  ot  the 
latter  four  4.7-inch  Hontoria.  five  rapid-fire  and  four  machine 
guns.     The  former  have  three  and  the  latter   four  torpedo 
tubes. 


346  SPAIN'S    FIGHTING    SHIPS. 

This  exhausts  the  Hst  of  cruisers  proper,  though  there  are 
two  others  so  called,  the  Quiros  and  Villabolos,  each  315  tons, 
for  service  in  the  Philippines.  There  is  an  old  wooden  sloop 
of  war  of  935  tons  which  carries  three  4.7-inch  Hontoria,  two 
2.8-inch  Krupp  and  two  machine  guns. 

The  Don  Alvaro  de  Bezan,  830  tons  and  235  feet  long; 
Dona  Maria  de  Molina,  same  size;  Destructor,  458  tons,  192 
feet  6  inches  long;  Filipinas,  750  tons,  213  feet;  Galicia,  571 
tons,  190  feet;  Marques  de  la  Vitoria,  830  tons,  235  feet;  Mar- 
ques de  Molina,  571  tons,  190  feet;  Martin  Alonzo  Pinzon, 
same  size;  Nueva  Espana,  630  tons,  190  feet;  Rapido,  570  tons, 
190  feet;  Temerario,  590  tons,  190  feet,  and  the  Vincente  Yanez 
•Pinzon,  571  tons,  190  feet,  are  classed  as  torpedo-gunboats. 
They  carry  from  two  to  four  torpedo  tubes  and  have  a  speed 
of  19  or  20  knots.  The  armament  of  the  largest  consists  of 
two  4.7-inch  rapid-fire  guns,  four  1.5-inch  and  two  machine 
guns.  The  General  Concha,  520  tons,  is  listed  as  a  gunboat, 
and  the  Elcano,  524  tons.  General  Lego,  524  tons,  Magellanes, 
524  tons,  as  "gun-vessels."  There  are  two  dispatch  vessels  in 
the  list,  identical  in  description,  the  Fernando  el  Catolico 
(used  as  a  torpedo  training-ship),  and  the  Marques  del  Duero, 
500  tons  displacement,  157  feet  5  inches  long  and  25  feet  7 
inches  beam,  with  a  speed  of  10  knots. 

There  is  a  supplementary  list  of  gunboats  "for  service  in 
Cuban  waters"— the  Hernan  Cortes,  300  tons,  one  5.12-inch 
Parrott  gun,  12  knots;  Pizarro,  300  tons,  two  2.95-inch  rapid- 
fire  Nordenfeldt  guns"  12  knots;  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  300 
tons,  one  2.95-inch  Nordenfeldt  gun,  12.5  knots;  Diego  Velas- 
quez, 200  tons,  two  2.24-inch  rapid-fire  Nordenfeldt  guns,  and 
one  i-pounder  revolving  cannon;  Ponce  de  Leon,  in  all  re- 
spects like  the  last;  Alvarado,  100  tons,  one  2.24-inch  rapid-fire 
Nordenfeldt,  and  one  revolving  cannon;  Sandoval,  mate  to  the 
last.  There  are  also  eighteen  small  steel  gunboats  for  service 
in  Cuba,  carrying  each  one  6-pounder  Maxim-Nordenfeldt 
rapid-fire  gun  and  one  i-pounder  Maxim-Nordenfeldt  auto- 
matic. 

The  list  of  Spain's  torpedo-boat-destroyers  comprises  six 
vessels — the  Audaz,  which  is  a  formidable  craft  of  400  tons  dis- 
placement and  a  length  of  22s  feet,  carrying  two  12-pounders, 


SPAIX'S    FfGHTTXfl    SHTPfi. 


34' 


two  6-poitnders.  and  two  i-pounders,  besides  two  torpedo 
tubes,  and  capable  of  a  speed  of  30  knots,  and  the  Furor,  Ter- 
ror Osado,  Pluton  and  Proserpina,  each  of  which  is  of  3«o 
tons  displacement,  220  feet  long,  capable  of  28  knots,  and 
carrying  two  14-pounder  and  two  6-pounder  rapid-fire  and 
two  37-mm.  automatic  guns,  all  Maxim-Nordenfeldt.  Each 
of  these  vessels  carries  100  tons  of  coal  and  has  67  men. 

The  rest  of  the  torpedo  fleet  consists  of  boats  ranging  from 
147  feet  5  inches  to  43  feet  4  inches  in  length,  and  from  108  to 
03  tons  displacement.     The  names,  with  indication  of  length 
in  feet  and  speed  in  knots,  are  Ariete,  147-5  feet,  26.1  knots; 
Rayo,  147.5  feet,  25.5  knots;  Azor.  134-5  feet,  24  knots;  Halcon, 
134.5  feet.  24  knots;  Habana.  127.5  feet,  21.3  knots;  Barcelo. 
1^6  feet.  19.5  knots;  Orion,  125  feet,  21.5  knots;  Retamosa,  118 
feet    -o  5  knots;  Julia  Ordonez,  117.7  feet,  20.1  knots;  Ejercito. 
Ill  5  feet,  25  knots;  Rigel,  105  feet.  19  knots;  Pollux,  80  feet. 
19.5  knots;  Castor.  76.0  feet,  19  knots;  Aire,  43-4  feet,  8  knots, 
and  four  vidette-boats,  60  feet  long,  making  18.3  knots.   These 
four  boats  have  a  light  armament,  besides  their  two  (in  two 
cases  three)  torpedo  tubes,  and,   with  the  exception   of  the 
smallest,  carry  from  thirteen  to  twenty-five  tons  of  coal,  and 
require  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  men  to  manage  them. 

Spain  has  now  in  process  of  building  one  battleship  of  10.000 
tons,  one  armored  cruiser  of  10.500  tons  and  one  of  6840  tons 
(Pedro   d'Aragon);   two   protected   cruisers— Reina    Regente. 
5372  tons,  and  Rio  de  la  Plata,  I775  tons;  one  torpedo-gun- 
boat, 750  tons,  and  four  torpedo-boats  of  the  Ariete  type.    She 
can  also  command  for  arming  as  cruisers  thirteen  vessels  of 
the  Compania  Transatlantica  of  Cadiz,  as  follows,  in  order  of 
size,   with   tonnage   and   speed   indicated:      Magellanes,   6932 
tons,   17  knots;  Buenos  Aires.  Si95  tons.   14  knots;   Monte- 
video. 5096  tons,  14-5  knots;  Alfonso  XII.  5063  tons,  15  knots; 
Leon  XIII,  4687  tons,  15  knots;  P.  de  Satrustegui,  4638  tons, 
15  knots;  Alfonso  XIII,  4381   tons,   16  knots;  Reina  Maria 
Christina,  4381  tons,  16  knots;  Isla  de  Luzon,  4^52  tons,  13 
knots;  Isla  de  Mindanao,  4195  tons.  13.5  knots;  Isla  de  Panay. 
3636  tons.  13.S  knots:  Cataluna,  3488  tons.  14  knots;  Ciudad 
de  Cadiz.  3084  tons,  i3-5  knots. 
The  effective  naval  strength  of  Spain  may  be  summed  up 


348  SPAIN'f^    FTGHTING    SHIPS. 

from  the  foregoing  detailed  description.  She  has  but  one 
really  effective  battleship,  the  Pelayo,  which  cannot  be  ready 
to  leave  her  coast  for  some  time.  She  has  one  powerful 
cruiser  in  the  Carlos  V  (not  immediately  available),  and  seven 
Others  which  stand  high  in  the  first  class  in  all  respects. 
These  eight  strong  and  last  cruisers  embody  her  chief  fight- 
ing forces  on  the  water;  but  there  are  eight  others,  ranging  in 
size  from  3000  to  5000  tons,  and  most  of  them  having  a  speed 
of  17  knots  or  more,  which  could  render  effective  aid  in 
harassing  an  enemy.  There  are  nine  of  the  smaller  cruisers 
of  a  little  more  than  1000  tons  displacement. 

The  torpedo-gunboats  are  strong  and  speedy  craft,  and 
they  are  twelve  in  number,  in  addition  to  which  there  are  one 
other  gunboat,  three  "gun-vessels"  and  two  dispatch-boats, 
besides  the  three  300-ton,  two  200-ton,  two  loo-ton  and 
eighteen  "small"  gunboats  especially  "for  service  in  Cuban 
waters." 

Spain's  torpedo  fleet  is  a  strong  one.  It  contains  six  ex- 
ceptionally powerful  and  swift  torpedo-boat-destroyers,  ten 
torpedo-boats  rated  as  first  class  according  to  the  English 
standard,  two  of  the  second  class,  and  seven  others— twenty- 
five  in  all. 


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A    BATTLESHIP.  351 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

A     KATTLKSHII". 

THE      KIND      OF      MACHINERY      CONTAINED      IN      THE      U.       S.       S. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  Massachusetts,  to  the  unprofessional  mind,  is  more  of 
a  vast  and  complicated  machine  than  it  is  a  ship.  She  carries 
no  less  than  eighty-six  steam  engines,  four  dynamos,  hy- 
draulic machines  for  hoisting,  pneumatic  machines  for  charg- 
ing the  automobile  torpedoes  and  for  ventilating  the  ship,  an 
ice  machine  and  a  condenser,  and  electric  machines  for  hoist- 
ing and  lighting. 

We  read  in  history  of  the  terrible  broadsides  delivered  from 
the  lOO-gun  line-of-battle  ships  of  the  first  half  of  this  century. 
Lord  Nelson  might  have  pounded  such  a  ship  as  the  Massa- 
chusetts all  day  long  with  his  entire  broadside  without  in- 
juring her  much  more  than  she  would  be  injured  by  a  hail- 
storm, while  one  well-directed  shot  from  the  13-inch  turret 
would  have  demolished  any  ship  then  afloat. 

THE   TURRETS. 

There  are  on  the  Massachusetts  six  turrets.  Two  of  these 
turrets,  one  to  the  fore  and  the  other  aft  of  the  middle  of  the 
ship,  contain  the  13-inch  guns.  These  guns,  four  in  number, 
are  almost  the  most  terrific  engines  of  destruction  upon  any 
ship  afloat.  The  turrets  in  which  they  are  inclosed  are  made 
of  steel  as  hard  as  steel  can  be  made,  eighteen  inches  in  thick- 
ness. Their  shape  makes  it  most  likely  that  a  shell  striking 
one  of  them  would  glance  off  and  inflict  no  damage.  The  tur- 
rets extend  far  down  into  the  interior  of  the  ship.  They  are 
worked  each  by  a  special  steam  engine  and  are  controlled  by  the 
officer  in  the  turret,  who  can  move  the  structure,  guns  and 
all,  around  by  working  a  lever.  Thus  he  can  point  the  guns 
to  any  direction  except  toward  the  middle  of  the  ship. 


;,-2  1     BATTLKSIIIP. 

GUNS    AND   AMMUNITION. 

The  guns  themselves  are  thirty-six  feet  long  and  project 
out  of  the  turrets  far  over  the  decks.  This  great  length  is 
necessary  to  get  the  full  force  of  the  powder,  which  is  slow 
in  burning.  The  shell  used  is  thirteen  inches  in  diameter.  It 
is  conical  at  the  extremity  and  several  feet  long,  and  mad.;  of 
hard  steel.  It  weighs  1250  pounds,  and  the  powder  which 
propels  it  weighs  half  as  much.  The  weight  of  a  projectile 
used  in  a  gun  can  be  ascertained  approximately  by  taking  the 
cube  of  the  diameter  of  the  bore  and  dividing  it  by  two.  The 
ammunition  for  the  big  guns  is  stored  far  down  in  the  ship 
under  the  turret.  There  is  a  hydraulic  lift  containing  three 
cylinders.  In  one  of  these  the  projectile  is  placed  and  the 
powder  in  the  other  two.  The  powder  is  of  the  brown,  hex- 
agonal kind,  and  one  charge  is  divided  and  sewed  into  two 
serge  bags.  From  the  bottom  of  the  turret  the  charge  is 
shot  up  to  the  breech  of  the  guns  and  rammed  home  into  the 
guns  by  a  hydraulic  rammer. 

THE     RANGE. 

In  theory  a  gun  can  shoot  one  mile  for  each  inch  of  its 
caliber.  Thus  a  13-inch  gun  is  supposed  to  shoot  thirteen 
miles,  a  lo-inch  gun  ten  miles,  and  so  on.  But  in  a  ship  this 
cannot  be  done,  because  it  is  impossible  to  get  the  necessary 
elevation.  One-half  the  theoretical  distance  is  nearer  the 
mark. 

The  other  turrets  of  the  Massachusetts,  four  in  number. 
contain  8-inch  guns.  They  are  elevated  above  the  big  turrets 
and  l)ctween  them  and  the  smokestacks. 

1 1  it  were  possible  to  fire  continuously  and  at  the  same  time 
all  the  guns  of  the  ship  the  effect  would  Ix-  tremendous.  Each 
minute  one  shot  would  come  from  the  13-inch  turrets  and 
six  from  the  8-inch  turrets  and  the  four  6-inch  guns  would  be 
working  in  proportion,  while  a  hailstorm  of  steel  would  come 
from  the  twenty  6-pounder  rapid-fire  guns,  the  six  i-pounder 
and  the  four  machine  guns. 


.1    BATTLESHIP.  353 

QUARTERS     OF     THE     CREW. 

The  protected  deck  of  the  ship  is  almost  level  with  the 
water.  Above  this  the  ship  is  unarmored.  The  comparatively 
light  steel  plates  of  which  the  sides  are  constructed  are  per- 
forated with  port  holes  admitting  light  and  air  into  the  vari- 
ous messrooms,  offices  and  staterooms  of  the  senior  officers. 
The  steel  floors  of  this  and  the  apartments  on  the  deck  below 
are  carpeted  with  lineoleum.  The  ceilings  are  steel  and  the 
walls  are  of  the  same  metal,  painted  white,  with  here  and  there 
a  portiere  over  a  door.  On  the  deck  under  the  protected 
armor  the  junior  officers  have  their  staterooms  and  the  crew 
their  sleeping  and  living  quarters.  These  are  lighted  by  elec- 
tricity and  ventilated  by  blowers.  There  are  no  outside  open- 
ings, but  the  quarters  are  fairly  comfortable.  There  are  wash- 
rooms and  bathrooms,  and  in  each  stateroom  there  is  i  writ- 
ing-desk and  some  other  little  furniture. 

On  this  deck  also  is  a  prison,  which  is  a  small  room,  lighted 
and  ventilated  through  a  perforated  door.  Going  through 
the  interior  of  the  ship  is  almost  like  going  through  a  succes- 
sion of  burglar-proof  safes.  The  doors,  many  of  them,  are 
like  the  safe  doors,  and  upon  the  collision  signal  being 
sounded,  which  is  the  "siren."  or  fog  horn,  and  certain  rattles, 
all  these  doors  must  be  closed,  and  when  closed  water  cannot 
pass  from  one  compartment  to  another. 

As  all  of  our  battleships  are  nearly  alike  in  every  respect 
the  foregoing  description  of  the  Massachusetts  will  apply 
equally  to  the  others. 


3.i4  WAh'SHir    (JLOHSARY. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

WARSHU'    (U.OSSAUY. 

IIKFINITIONS     or     THE     VARIOUS     TERMS     USED     ON     BOARD     A 

MAN-OF-WAR. 

A. 

AMIDSHIPS.— The  middle  part  of  the  ship,  whether  in 
regard  to  her  length  or  breadth. 

AMMUNITION.— The  powder  and  shot  and  shell  for  use 
HI  the  guns. 

ANCHOR  WATCH.— A  small  number  of  men  kept  on 
duty  at  night,  while  the  ship  is  at  anchor  in  port,  to  be  ready 
for  anything  which  may  suddenly  turn  up. 

ARM  AND  AWAY.— The  order  for  the  small  boats  of  a 
ship  to  prepare  for  service. 

ARDOIS  SYSTEM.— Electric  signal  lights  carried  on  a 
stay  from  a  masthead  and  made  to  show  a  series  of  red  or 
white  lights. 

ARMAMENT.— A  term  expressing  collectively  all  the  guns 
of  a  ship. 

ARMOR. — The  metal  protection  given  to  a  ship. 

ATHWART.— Transversely;  at  right  angles  to  the  keel. 

ARMOR  INCLINED.— .A.  perpendicular  belt  running 
diagonally  on  board  for  a  short  distance  at  the  forward  and 
after  ends  of  the  belt. 

B. 

BACKING. — The  timber  to  which  the  armor  plates  are 
bolted. 

BARBETTE. — A  fixed  circular  belt  of  armor  rigidly  at- 
tached to  the  deck,  protecting  the  turret,  which  revolves 
inside.  The  guns  fire  over  it.  Guns  are  mounted  in  barbette 
when  they  fire  over  a  parapet  and  not  through  port  holes. 


GENERAL  JOSE   MACEO, 


WARI^HIP    G[.OSSAr?Y.  357 

BASE.— The  rear  portion  of  a  shot  or  gun. 

BATTERY.— The  place  where  guns  are  mounted.  A  num- 
ber of  guns  taken  collectively. 

BATTLE  LANTERN.— A  lantern  supplied  for  lighting  up 
the  decks  during  an  engagement. 

BATTLESHIP.— A  ship  carrying  heaviest  guns  and  thick- 
est armor  to  stand  the  brunt  of  a  naval  engagement. 

BERTH    DECK.— The    deck    next    below    the    lower   gun 

deck. 

BETWEEN  DECKS.— The  space  comprised  between  any 

two  decks. 

BILGE.— That  part  of  the  hull  more  nearly  horizontal  than 

vertical. 

BILGE  KEEL.— A  projection  on  the  bilge  of  a  vessel  par- 
allel with  keel. 

BOW  CHASER.— A  gun  mounted  in  the  bow  to  fire  on 

retreating  vessel. 

BREECH.— The  portion  of  the  gun  abaft  the  chamber. 
BREECH  BLOCK.— A  mass  of  metal  used  to  close  breech 

of  gun. 

BRIDGE.— A  platform  extending  across  the  deck  above 
the  rail  for  the  convenience  of  the  officers  in  charge. 

BULKHEAD.— Any  partition  separating  apartments  on 
the  same  deck. 

BUNKER.— A  bir  for  storing  coal  on  ship. 

c. 

CABLE.— A  long,  strong  chain  used  to  retain  a  ship  in 
place  at  anchor. 

CAPSTAN.— A   machine  used   on   board   ship   for   raising 

Vieavy  weights. 

CARTRIDGE.— A  case  containing  a  charge  of  powder  for 
a  gun.  Cartridges  for  great  guns  are  usually  put  up  in  serge 
cloth    bags:    those    for    rapid-firers    are    put    up  in  copper 

<;ylinders. 

CHAMBER.— That  part  of  the  bore  of  a  gun  which  re- 

-;:eives  the  powder. 


ar)S  WAh'siur  (ilossart. 

CONNING  TOWER. — The  armored  tower  forward  wiiere 
the  wheel,  engine  telegraphs,  etc.,  are  placed,  and  where  the 
captain  is  supposed  to  go  to  direct  the  fighting  of  his  ship  in 
time  of  action. 

CONVOY. — A  merchant  fleet  protected  by  an  armed  force. 
The  ships  which  defend  the  merchant  vessels  while  en  voyage. 

CROSS-TREES. — The  short  arms  extending  across  the 
topmast. 

CROWN. — The  round-up  of  the  deck  from  the  level  line. 

CROW'S  NEST.— A  perch  for  a  lookout  at  the  masthead. 

CRUISER. — A  type  just  below  the  battleship  and  just  above 
the  gunboat.  An  armored  cruiser  has  side  or  vertical  armor 
and  horizontal  or  deck  armor.  A  protected  cruiser  has  hori- 
zontal or  deck  armor  only.  An  unprotected  cruiser  has  no 
armor. 

D. 

DEAD  FLAT. —  The  name  of  the  widest  frame  of  the  ship. 

DEAD  LIGHTS. — Coverings  to  the  side  air  ports. 

DEPTH  OF  HOLD.— The  perpendicular  height  from  the 
top  of  the  ceiling  to  the  top  of  the  main  deck. 

DINGHEY. — The  smallest  boat  on  a  warship;  also 
"dinghy"  and  "dingy." 

DISPLACEMENT.— The  weight  in  tons  of  the  volume  of 
water  the  hull  of  a  ship  displaces. 

DRAUGHT.— The  depth  of  the  keel  of  a  ship  below  the 
surface  of  the  water;  spelled  also  draft. 

E,  F. 

ENSIGN. — The  national  flag;  also  the  lowest  grade  of 
commissioned  officers  in  the  navy. 

FALSE  KEEL. — A  plank  bolted  to  the  main  keel  so  that 
when  a  ship  touches  bottom  the  false  keel  will  be  injured  and 
not  the  main  keel. 

FATHOM. — A  measure  of  six  feet. 

FIRST  WATCH.— The  watch  from  8  to  12  midnight. 

FLUSH  DECK.^A  deck  from  stem  to  stern  without  & 
break. 


WARfiHIP    OLO'^f^ART.  -'•■ 

FORE  FOOT.— The  forward  end  of  the  keel. 

FORE  ORLOP.— That  part  of  the  ship  next  forward  of  the 
hold  and  under  the  berth  deck. 

FOREPEAK.— The  extreme  forward  hold  of  the  ship 
where  the  paintroom  and  other  storerooms  are. 

FRAMES— The  several  ribs  which  compose  the  frame  of 
a  ship.  The  floor  plate  angle  irons  and  reverse  angle  irons 
when  completed  form  a  rib. 

FUNNEL.— The  large  pipe  for  carrying  off  the  smoke, 
called  often  smokestack  or  smokepipe. 

FUSE.— The  local  apparatus  for  inflaming  the  charge  of  a 
shell  or  torpedo. 

G. 

GANGWAY.— A  thoroughfare.  The  aperture  in  the  ship's 
side  where  people  enter  and  depart. 

GREAT  GUNS.— The  heavy  ordnance  of  a  ship.  All  guns 
above  six-inch  caliber  are  styled  great  guns;  below  that  guns 
are  now  usually  called  rapid-f^rers  or  rapid-fire  guns. 

GUN.— A  generic  term  for  the  pieces  composing  the  arma- 
ment of  a  ship. 

GUNBOAT.— A  small  vessel  usually  under  2000  tons  dis- 
placement, with  gun  power  developed  rather  than  speed  or 
coal-carrying  capacity. 

H. 

HALF-MAST.— To  lower  a  flag  midway  between  the  truck 

and  the  deck. 

HATCH.— An  aperture  in  the  deck  more  than  two  feet 
square;  when  smaller  they  are  usually  called  manholes. 

HOLD.— The  interior  portion  of  a  ship  below  the  lower 

deck. 

HOWITZER.— A  short,  light  cannon,  to  throw  a  large 
])rojectile  with  a  small  charge  of  powder. 

HULL.— The  body  of  a  ship,  independent  of  masts  and 
rigging. 


8(50  WARSHir    flLOSSAh'V. 


J.  K,  L. 


JACOB'S  LADDER. — Short  ladder,  with  wood  rungs  and 
rope  sides. 

KEEL. — The  bottom  plate  of  a  ship,  extending  from  stem 
to  stern;  the  frames  are  bolted  to  it. 

KEELSON.— The  inside  keel  of  the  ship. 

LAUNCH. — Usually  the  largest  boats  in  the  ship,  steam 
or  pulling. 

LINE  OF  FIRE. — The  line  of  the  prolongation  of  the  bore 
of  a  gun  when  fired. 

LIST. — To  lean  to  one  side  or  the  other. 


M.  N,  O,  P. 

MACHINE  GUNS. — Those  in  which  the  operations  per- 
taining to  continuous  fire  are  automatically  performed  by 
machinery.  Cartridges  are  supplied  to  the  chamber,  fired,  the 
empty  case  withdrawn  and  a  fresh  cartridge  inserted. 

MONITOR. — A  low  freeboard  armored  vessel,  with  one 
or  two  turrets,  each  carrying  two  great  guns;  nearly  flat 
bottom  and  with  very  light  draft  of  water,  designed  by 
Ericsson. 

ORDNANCE. — The  science  cf  making  and  mounting 
guns. 

ORLOP. — The  lowest  deck,  where  the  cables  and  store- 
rooms usually  are. 

PENNANT.— A  narrow  flag,  "coach  whip,"  hoisted  by  all 
vessels  in  commission  commanded  by  an  officer  not  of  flag 
rank. 

PLATFORM  DECK.— The  upper  part  of  the  protective 
deck. 

PRIVATEER. — A  private  armed  vessel  commissioned  by 
the  government  in  time  of  war  to  prey  upon  an  enemy's 
commerce. 

PROTECTIVE  DECK.— The  armored  deck,  curved,  pro- 
tecting the  vitals  and  extending  from  the  ram  to  the  stern. 


WARSHIP    GLOSSARY.  308 

Q.  R. 

QUARTER-DECK.— The  upper  deck,  abaft  the  mainmaet. 

QUARTERMASTER.— In  the  navy  a  petty  officer  who 
has  charge  of  the  steering  of  the  ship  and  assists  the  naviga- 
tor; he  has  charge  of  the  logs,  leads,  colors,  signal  gear.  etc. 

QUARTERS.— The  stations  of  the  officers  and  men  at  the 
guns  for  working  them  when  in  action. 

RAPID-FIRE  GUNS.— Those  for  which  cartridge  and 
projectile  are  made  up  as  one  whole. 

RATE. — In  our  navy  a  classification  of  ships  according  to 
displacement  tonnage.  Above  5000  tons,  first  rate:  3000  to 
5000,  second  rate;  1000  to  3000,  third  rate;  below  1000,  fourth 
rate. 

REDOUBT.— An  armored  space  in  the  center  of  the  ship 
protecting  the  turret  mounts  and  ammunition. 

S. 

SIDE.— The  side  of  a  ship  includes  all  the  outside  upper 
works  down  to  the  water  edge. 

SKIN. — The  inside  or  outside  plating  of  a  ship. 

SMALL  ARMS. — Firearms  carried  in  the  hand. 

SQUADRON. — A  detachment  of  vessels  employed  on  any 
service. 

SQUADRON.  FLYING.— A  squadron  of  observation  that 
cruises  rapidly  from  place  to  place. 

SPARDECK.— The  upper  deck  on  which  the  turrets  are 
placed. 

ST.\RBO.A.RD.— The  right-hand  side,  looking  forward. 

STARBOARD  STRAKE.— The  first  range  of  plating  in 
the  ship's  bottom  next  the  keel. 


364  BATTLE    OF     MAX  If.  A. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

BATTLE    or    MANILA. 

GRAPHIC  DESCRIPTION  OF  DEWEv's  TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT — 
THE  SPANISH  SQUADRON  SUCCUMBED  TO  THE  TERRIFIC  FIRF 
OF  THE  WELL-AIMED  AMERICAN  GUNS  AND  THE  BATTLE  CRY 
WAS  "remember  THE  MAINE" — THE  EIGHT  WOUNDED 
AMERICANS — INCIDENTS  OF  THE  WORLD-FAMOUS  CONFLICT. 

From  special  dispatches  and  Associated  Press  reports  of 
Commodore  Dewey's  famous  fight  and  remarkable  victory  in 
Manila  bay,  it  is  learned  that  on  Monday,  April  25,  after  re- 
ceiving news  of  the  declaration  of  war,  the  fleet  quitted  British 
waters  and  on  Wednesday  sailed  for  Manila  at  the  fastest  speed 
that  could  be  made  with  the  coal  supply  provided  for  the  ships. 
On  Saturday  night  it  passed  the  batteries  at  the  entrance  of 
Manila  bay  and  on  Sunday  morning  the  battle  began. 

ENTERING    THE    BAY. 

In  the  words  of  a  special  correspondent,  who  stood  beside 
Commodore  Dewey  on  the  bridge  of  the  flagship  Olympia 
during  the  engagement,  with  all  its  lights  out  the  squadron 
steamed  into  Bocagrande  on  Saturday  night  with  crews  at  the 
guns.  This  was  the  order  of  the  squadron,  which  was  kept 
during  the  whole  time  of  the  first  battle:  The  flagship  Olym- 
pia, the  Baltimore,  the  Raleigh,  the  Petrel,  the  Concord,  the 
Boston. 

It  was  just  8  o'clock,  a  bright  moonlight  night,  but  the  flag- 
ship passed  Corregidor  Island  without  a  sign  being  given  that 
the  Spaniards  were  aware  of  its  approach. 

Not  until  the  flagship  was  a  mile  beyond  Corregidor  was  a 
gun  fired.     Then  one  heavy  shot  went  screaming  over  the  Ra- 


BATTLE    OF    MAM  LA.  365 

leigh  and  the  Olympia,  followed  by  a  second,  which  fell  fur- 
ther astern. 

The  Raleigh,  the  Concord  and  the  Boston  replied,  the  Con- 
cord's shells  exploding  apparently  exactly  inside  the  shore 
battery,  which  fired  no  more. 

The  squadron  slowed  down  to  barely  steerage  way  and  the 
men  were  allowed  to  sleep  alongside  their  guns. 

Commodore  Dewey  had  timed  the  arrival  so  that  the  fleet 
were  within  five  miles  of  the  city  of  Manila  at  daybreak. 

THE  SPANISH  SQUADRON. 

Off  Cavite  the  Spanish  squadron  was  sighted.  Admiral 
Montejon  commanding,  whose  flag  was  flying  on  the  350O-ton 
protected  cruiser  Reina  Christina.  The  protected  cruiser  Cas- 
tilla,  of  3200  tons,  was  moored  ahead,  and  astern  to  the  port 
battery  and  to  seaward  were  the  cruisers  Don  Juan  de  Austria, 
Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa,  Isla  de  Cuba.  Isla  de  Luzon,  Quiros. 
Marquis  del  Onero  and  General  Lezox.  These  ships  and  the 
flagship  remained  under  way  during  most  of  the  action. 

UNDER    THE    STARS    AND    STRIPES. 

"With  the  United  States  flag  flying-  :it  all  their  mastheads," 
writes  the  correspondent,  "our  ships  moved  to  the  attack  in 
line  ahead,  with  a  speed  of  eight  knots,  first  passing  in  front  o' 
Manila,  where  the  action  was  begun  by  three  batteries  mount- 
ing guns  powerful  enough  to  send  a  shell  over  us  at  a  distance 
of  five  miles. 

"The  Concord's  guns  boomed  out  a  reply  to  these  batteries 
with  two  shots.  No  more  were  fired,  because  Commodore 
Dewey  could  not  engage  with  these  batteries  without  sending 
death  and  destruction  into  the  crowded  city. 

"As  we  neared  Cavite  two  very  powerful  submarine  mines 
were  exploded  ahead  of  the  flagship.     This  was  at  5.06  o'clock. 

"The  Spaniards  evidently  had  misjudged  our  position.  Im- 
mense volumes  of  water  were  thrown  high  in  the  air  by  the«e 
destroyers,  but  no  harm  was  done  to  our  ships. 


son  !i\TTLE    OF    MWll.A. 

"No  other  mines  exploded,  however,  and  it  is  believed  thai 
the  Spaniards  had  only  these  two  in  place. 

REMEMBERED    THE    MAINE. 

"Only  a  few  minutes  later  the  shore  battery  at  Cavite  Point 
sent  over  the  flagship  a  shot  that  nearly  hit  the  battery  in 
Manila,  but  soon  the  guns  got  a  better  range  and  the  shells 
began  to  strike  near  us  or  burst  close  aboard  from  both  the 
batteries  and  the  Spanish  vessels. 

"The  heat  was  intense.  Men  stripped  ofY  all  clothing  except 
their  trousers. 

"As  the  Olympia  drew  nearer  all  was  as  silent  on  board  as 
if  the  ship  had  been  empty,  except  for  the  whirr  of  blowers 
and  the  throb  of  the  engines. 

"Suddenly  a  shell  burst  directl}^  over  us. 

"From  the  boatswain's  mate  at  the  after  five-inch  gun  came 
a  hoarse  cry.  'Remember  the  Maine,'  arose  from  the  throats 
of  500  men  at  the  guns. 

"This  watchword  was  caught  up  in  turrets  and  firerooms 
wherever  seaman  or  fireman  stood  at  his  post. 

"  'Remember  the  Maine!'  had  rung  out  for  defiance  and  re- 
venge. Its  utterance  seemed  unpremeditated,  but  was  evi- 
dently in  every  man's  mind,  and,  now  that  the  moment  had 
come  to  make  adequate  reply  to  the  murder  of  the  Maine's 
crew,  every  man  shouted  what  was  in  his  heart. 

RE.\DY    TO    BEGIN. 

"The  Olympia  was  now  ready  to  begin  the  fight. 

"Commodore  Dewey,  his  chief  of  staff.  Commodore  Lam- 
berton,  an  aide  and  myself,  with  Executive  Ofificer  Lieuten- 
ant Rees  and  Navigator  Lieutenant  Calkins,  who  conned  ship 
most  admirably,  were  on  the  forward  bridge.  Captain  Gridley 
was  in  the  conning  tower,  as  it  was  tliought  unsafe  to  risk 
losing  all  the  senior  ofificers  by  one  shell. 

"  'You  may  fire  when  ready.  Gridley,'  said  the  Commodore. 
and  at  nineteen  minutes  of  6  o'clock,  at  a  distance  of  5500 


BATTLE    OF    MAM  J.  A.  369 

yards,  the  starboard  eight-inch  gun  in  the  forward  turret 
roared  forth  a  compliment  to  the  Spanish  forts. 

"Presently  similar  guns  from  the  Baltimore  and  the  Boston 
sent  250-pound  shells  hurling  toward  the  Castilla  and  the 
Reina  Christina  for  accuracy. 

"The  Spaniards  seemed  encouraged  to  fire  faster,  knowing 
exactly  our  distance,  while  we  had  to  guess  their.  Their  ship 
and  shore  guns  were  making  things  hot  tor  us." 

"open  with  .\ll  guns." 

A  number  of  incidents  of  narrow  escapes  from  death  oc- 
curred during  the  battle,  at  one  time  a  shell  passing  under 
Commodore  Dewey  and  gouging  a  hole  in  the  deck.  Chang- 
ing his  course  to  a  distance  of  4000  yards.  Commodore  Dewey 
finally  issued  the  order  to  "Open  with  all  guns,"  and  soon  all 
the  vessels  were  hard  at  work.  The  result  of  this  fierce  cannon- 
ade is  described  by  the  Associated  Press  correspondent,  who 
says: 

"By  this  time  the  Spanish  ships  were  in  a  desperate  condi- 
tion. The  flagship  Reina  Christina  was  riddled  with  shot  and 
shell,  one  of  her  steam  pipes  had  burst  and  she  was  believed 
to  be  on  fire.  The  Castilla  was  certainly  on  fire,  and  soon 
afterward  their  condition  became  worse  and  worse,  until  they 
were  eventually  burned  to  the  water's  edge. 

"The  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa  made  a  most  magnificent  show 
of  desperate  bravery.  When  her  commander  found  she  was 
so  torn  by  the  American  shells  that  he  could  not  keep  her 
afloat,  he  nailed  her  colors  to  the  mast,  and  she  sank  with  all 
hands  fighting  to  the  last.  Her  hull  was  completely  riddled 
and  her  upper  deck  had  been  swept  clean  by  the  awful  fire  of 
the  American  guns,  but  the  Spaniards,  though  their  vessels 
were  sinking  beneath  them,  continued  working  the  guns  on 
her  lower  deck  until  she  sank  beneath  the  waters. 

FATE  OF  A  TORPEDO-BOAT. 

"During  the  engagement  a  Spmish  torpedo-boat  crept  along 


370  BATTLE    OF    MAX  I  LA. 

the  shore  and  round  the  offing,  in  an  attempt  to  attack  the 
American  store  ships,  but  she  was  promptly  discovered,  was 
driven  ashore,  and  was  actually  shot  to  pieces. 

"The  Mindanao  had.  in  the  meanwhile,  been  run  ashore  to 
save  her  from  sinking,  and  the  Spanish  small  craft  had  sought 
shelter  from  the  steel  storm  behind  the  breakwater. 

THE    FINISHING    TOUCHES. 

"The  battle,  which  was  started  at  about  5.30  A.  M.,  and  ad- 
journed at  8.30  A.  M.,  was  resumed  about  noon,  when  Com- 
modore Dewey  started  in  to  put  the  finishing  touches  to  his 
glorious  work.  There  was  not  mucb  fight  left  m  the  Spaniards 
by  that  time,  and  at  2  P.  M.  the  Petrel  and  Concord  had  shot 
the  Cavite  batteries  into  silence,  leaving  them  heaps  of  ruins 
and  floating  the  white  flag. 

"The  Spanish  gunboats  were  then  scuttled,  the  arsenal  was 
on  fire  and  the  explosion  of  a  Spanish  magazine  caused  fur- 
ther mortality  among  the  defenders  of  Spain  on  shore. 

"On  the  water  the  burning,  sunken  or  destroyed  Spanish 
vessels  could  be  seen,  while  only  the  cruiser  Baltimore  had 
suffered  in  any  way  from  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  A  shot  which 
struck  her  exploded  some  ammunition  near  one  of  her  guns 
and  slightly  injured  a  half-dozen  of  the  crew." 

AFTER    THE    ACTION. 

At  the  end  of  the  action  Commodore  Dewey  anchored  his 
fleet  in  the  bay  before  Manila,  and  sent  a  message  to  the  .Gov- 
ernor-General, General  Augusti.  announcing  the  inauguration 
of  the  blockade,  and  adding  that  if  a  shot  was  fired  against  his 
ships  he  would  destroy  every  battery  about  Manila. 

The  position  occupied  by  the  Spaniards,  the  support  which 
their  ships  received  from  the  land  batteries,  and  the  big  guns 
they  had  on  shore  gave  them  an  enormous  advantage.  There- 
fort,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Spaniards  lost  over  600 
mer  '-^  *-s^!ed  and  wounded,  that  all  their  ships,  amounting  to 
about  fourteen,  were  destroyed,  and  that  their  naval  arsenal  at 


BATTLIJ    or    M.Wn.A.  •><! 

Cavite  was  also  destroyed,  with  its  defences,  it  will  become 
apparent  that  the  victory  of  the  American  Commodore  is  one 
of  the  most  complete  and  wonderful  achievements  m  the  his- 
tory of  naval  warfare. 

Not  a  man  on  the  American  tleet  was  killed,  not  a  ship  was 
damaged  to  any  extent,  and  only  eight  men  were  injured 
slightly  on  board  the   BaltiniDre. 


THE  SPANISH    LOSS. 

The  losses  of  the  Spaniards  include  ten  warships,  several 
torpedo-boats,  two  transports,  navy-yard  and  nine  batteries. 
Including  the  losses  ashore,  about  i_'oo  Spaniards  were  killed 

or  wounded. 

The  estimated  value  of  the  Spanish  property  destroyed  or 
captured  is  $6,000,000.  On  the  American  side  the  total  loss  is 
eight  men  wounded  and  $5000  damage  10  the  ships. 

THE   AMERICANS   WOUNDED. 

The  eight  wounded  men  of  the  Baltimore  are  Lieut.  Frank 
Woodruff  Kellogg,  of  Waterbury.  Conn.,  aged  41;  Ensign 
Noble  Edward  Irwin,  of  Greenfield.  Ohio,  aged  29;  Coxswain 
Michael  John  Buddinger.  of  Manitowoc,  Wis.;  Landsman 
Robert  L.  Bartow,  of  Bartow,  Minn.,  aged  25;  Seaman  Rich- 
ard P.  Covert,  of  Racine.  Wis.,  aged  28;  Seaman  William 
O'Keefe.  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  aged  30;  Seaman  Rosario  Ricciar- 
delli.  born  in  Italy  but  a  naturalized  American,  aged  24,  and 
Coxswain  Edward  Snelgrove,  of  Ellensburg,  Wash.,  ^ged  24. 

From  Admiral  Dewey's  statement,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  press  reports,  the  officials  of  the  Navy  Department  are 
satisfied  that  none  of  these  officers  or  men  are  seriously  in- 
jured. They  gather  from  the'accounts  that  the  explosion  of 
ammunition,  which  is  supposed  to  have  caused  most  of  the 
injuries,  was  confined  to  one  small  box  or  chest  of  the  fixed 
ammunition  that  is  put  up  for  six-pounder  guns  and  kept  be- 
side the  gun  whenever  the  sh'p  "s  cleared  for  action. 


372  BATTLE    OF    MANILA. 

ACTION    OF    THE    FLEET. 

On  Monday  following  the  battle  the  American  forces  occu- 
pied the  Spanish  navy-yard  at  Manila,  blew  up  six  batteries 
at  the  entrance  of  the  bay,  cut  the  cable,  established  a  blockade 
of  Manila  and  drove  the  Spanish  forces  out  of  Cavite.  Tues- 
day and  Wednesday  the  lower  bay  and  entrance  were  swept 
for  torpedoes,  and  the  crews  were  given  a  well-earned  rest, 
while  the  Admiral  prepared  his  dispatches. 

INCIDENTS    OF    THE    FIGHT. 

During  the  engagement  Sunday  one  shot  struck  the  Balti- 
more and  passed  clean  through  her,  fortunately  hitting  no 
one.  Another  ripped  up  her  main  deck,  disabled  a  six-inch 
gun  and  exploded  a  box  of  three-pounder  ammunition, 
wounding  eight  men. 

The  Olympia  was  struck  abreast  the  gun  in  the  ward  room 
by  a  shell,  which  burst  outside,  doing  little  damage. 

The  signal  halyards  .were  cut  from  Lieutenant  Brumby's 
hand  on  the  after  bridge.  A  shell  entered  the  Boston's  port 
quarter  and  burst  in  Ensign  Dodridge's  stateroom,  starting  a 
hot  fire,  and  fire  was  also  caused  by  a  shell  which  burst  in  the 
port  hammock  netting.     Both  these  fires  were  quickly  put  out. 

Another  shell  passed  through  the  Boston's  foremast,  just  in 
front  of  Captain  Wildes,  on  the  bridge. 

'commodore  DEWEY — HE   SMELLED   POWDER  IN  THE   CIVIL  WAR 
AND   HAS    HAD    A    VARIED    CAREER    IN    THE    NAVY. 

Commodore  Dewey  was  born  in  "Vermont  sixty-one  years 
ago,  and  entered  the  navy  when  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age. 
On  graduation  from  the  Naval  Academy  in  1858  he  was  or- 
dered to  the  steam  frigate  Wabash,  of  the  European  squadron, 
for  a  cruise  which  lasted  until  1859.  Commissioned  a  lieuten- 
ant April  19,  1861,  he  was  attached  to  the  Mississippi,  of  the 
West  Gulf  squadron,  from  1861  to  1863,  taking  part  in  the  cap- 
ture of  New  Orleans  in  1862  mil  the  battle  at  Port  Hudson  in 


f^i; 


-  j#- 


i^      % 


ea».  . 


& 


'"Ams. 


BATTLE    OF    MANILA.  375 

July,  1863.  The  Mississippi  was  destroyed  in  this  action,  be- 
ing struck  250  times  in  a  short  time.  Lieutenant  Dewey  was 
also  in  a  gunboat  fight  at  Donaldsonville  soon  afterward,  and 
the  next  year  was  on  the  Agawam,  of  the  North  Atlantic  block- 
ading squadron,  taking  part  in  both  attacks  on  Fort  Fisher. 

Made  a  lieutenant-commander  March  3,  1865,  he  was  in  turn 
the  executive  ofificer  of  the  Kearsarge  and  the  Colorado,  of  the 
European  squadron,  and  was  given  his  first  command— that  of 
the  Narragansett— on  special  duty,  in  1871,  at  the  unusually 
early  age  of  thirty-three.  As  commander  he  was  again  ap- 
pointed to  the  Narragansett.  doing  three  years  of  deep-sea 
surveying  in  the  Pacific. 

He  did  lighthou.se  duty  from  1876  to  1882,  and  commanded 

the  Juniata,  of  the  Asiatic  squaaron,  in  1882-1883.     He  became 

■  captain  in  1884  and  was  the  first  commander  of  the  Dolphin, 

the  first  ship  of  the  new  navy.     His  last  previous  sea  command 

was  that  of  the  Pensacola  on  the  European  station,  1885-1888. 

From  1889  to  1893  he  was  in  charge  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment bureau  of  equipment  and  recruiting.  He  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  Asiatic  scjuadron  January  i  of  this  year,  having 
become  a  commodore  February  28,  1896, 


;;7(i  MEi^iiES  JX   THE  XAVY. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 
MESS?:s    I.\    THE    XAVY. 

HOW  THE  TABLE  OF  THE  OFFICERS  ON  A  MAN-OF-WAR  IS  PRO- 
VIDED WITH  EATABLES— ON  THE  CO-OPERATIVE  PLAN — ONE 
OFFICER  IS   ELECTED  AS  THE   MESS  HOUSEKEEPER. 

The  caterer's  first  duty  after  collecting  the  assessments  is  to 
buy  a  three  months'  stock  of  all  articles  necessary  for  the  table. 
The  cooks,  stewards  and  boys  are  under  his  immediate  orders, 
and  he  occupies  about  the  same  position  on  board  ship  as  the 
chairman  of  the  house  committee  does  in  his  club. 

When  he  enters  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  he  usually 
calls  on  the  ofificers  of  the  mess  for  an  advance  of  not  less  than 
$100  each.  In  the  navy  an  officer  receives  only  his  pay.  and 
out  of  that  he  must  "find"  himself,  so  that  when  a  new  officer 
joins  a  ship  one  of  the  first  things  he  has  to  do  is  to  contribute 
to  the  mess  fund.  If  he  has  to  draw  this  amount  from  the  pay 
department  in  advance — as  he  usually  does,  because  the  aver- 
age seafaring  man  does  not  carry  $ioo  bills  around  with  him — 
he  can  draw  no  pay  until  the  debt  to  the  pay  department  has 
been  liquidated. 

Having  his  fund,  the  caterer  makes  out  his  list  of  supplies  for 
his  t\venty-fi\-e  or  thirty  comrades,  buys  at  the  lowest  figure 
and  does  his  best  to  satisfy  his  mess.  Some  men  ha\"e  natural 
talent  in  that  direction  and  are  successful  caterers,  while  others 
make  a  sorry  business  of  it  and  are  roundly  criticized  for  their 
poor  housekeeping. 

The  tablecloths  and  table  ornaments  belong  to  the  mess,  but 
each  man  owns  his  own  napkin,  and  when  an  officer  has 
guests  the  extra  napkins  are  taken  from  his  personal  store. 
From  the  money  which  is  collected  by  the  caterer  he  is  ex- 
pected to  feed  the  cook,  stewards  and  boys.     These  people  are 


MESSES  7.Y   THE  X-ll  Y.  377 

all  entitled  to  "stores"  or  rations,  but  they  do  not  draw  them, 
and  the  equivalent  in  money  is  drawn  for  them  and  is  deposited 
in  the  mess  fund,  and  in  some  cases  becomes  their  extra  fee.  or 
tip,  for  services  rendered  to  the  mess. 

When  the  officers'  mess  is  spoken  of  it  does  not  mean  all  the 
officers  aboard  ship,  because  the  captain  messes  alone  and 
never  honors  the  other  officers  with  his  presence  at  their  table 
except  on  festive  or  official  occasions.  He  furnishes  his  own 
mess  and.  except  for  his  clerk,  takes  his  meals  alone.  On 
board  of  a  flagship  the  admiral  and  captain  mess  together. 
The  wardroom  mess  includes  the  officers  from  lieutenant-com- 
mander to  junior  lieutenant,  inclusive  of  both  line  and  stafT. 
:ind  the  officers  of  the  marine  corps. 

VARIOUS     MESSES. 

The  steerage  mess,  which  is  arranged  on  the  same  plan  as 
the  wardroom  mess  and  subject  to  the  same  rules,  includes 
the  cadets  and  officers  of  the  rank  of  ensign.  This  mess  is 
usually  just  forward  of  the  wardroom. 

Another  mess  is  known  as  the  warrant  officers'  mess.  This 
includes  the  gunner,  boatswain,  sailmaker  and  carpenter. 

The  chief  petty  officers'  mess  includes  the  chief  machinist, 
ship's  writer,  apothecary  and  sometimes  the  gunner's  mate. 
The  wardroom  mess  costs  each  of  its  members  from  $30  to  $40 
a  month  the  steerage  mess  is  run  on  a  less  elaborate  scale  and 
costs  about  $20  to  $25.  and  the  warrant  officers'   mess  costs 

still  less. 

The  bills  are  rendered  monthly  and  are  easily  made  out,  be- 
cause the  whole  amount  expended  by  the  caterer  is  divided  by 
the  number  constituting  the  mess,  and  each  man  pays  h.s 
share.  But  this  includes  only  the  table  proper  and  has  noth 
ing  to  do  with  wine,  cigars  and  extra  luxuries,  which  may  b  ■ 
purchased  from  what  is  known  as  the  "wine  mess,"  which  any 
of  the  officers  may  join.  Wine  is  charged  to  the  individual 
who  orders  it  at  an  advance  of  10  per  cent,  on  the  original  cos  . 
and  the  officers  who  belong  to  the  wine  mess,  who  have  ad- 
vanced the  money  for  the  purchase  of  the  article,  divide  the 
profits,  if  there  be  any. 


378  MESf^Ks   I\   THI-:  \.[]y. 

X'isitors  on  board  who  are  entertained  in  the  wardroom 
rarely  know  that  their  meal  is  paid  for  by  the  wardroom  mess, 
7.nd  tliat  the  wine  is  cliari^ed  direct  to  tlieir  host.  In  some  in- 
stances the  wliole  mess  bears  the  expense,  Imt  in  no  case  does 
the  government  [lay  a  cent. 

TELEGRAPH      MESS. 

On  board  ship  there  are  all  sorts  of  messes,  which  are  really 
clubs  organized  for  the  purpose  of  saving  money.  In  addi- 
tion to  those  mentioned,  there  are  newspaper  messes,  cigar 
messes,  and  when  a  ship  leaves  on  a  three-years'  cruise  it  usu- 
ally has  a  cable-code  mess.  By  means  of  this  cable-code  mess 
the  officers  keep  their  friends  informed  of  their  movements  at 
a  comparatively  small  outlay.  By  arrangement  code  words 
are  sent  to  some  person,  usually  the  wife  of  one  of  the  ofificers, 
and  she  in  turn  repeats  the  message,  translated  into  English, 
to  each  of  the  families  of  the  ofificers  belonging  to  the  mess. 

"Thus,"  an  officer  relates.  "I  remember  that  we  sent  a  cable 
mes.sage  from  Japan  once  which  contained  only  two  words. 
l)ut  cost  about  $9.  The  message  was  important  to  the  families 
of  our  mess,  because  it  informed  them  that  we  were  safe  and 
well.  The  message  was  sent  to  the  various  addresses  and  it 
cf)st  us  each  less  than  $1." 

These  expense-saving  organizations  are  necessary  when  one 
lakes  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  oflicer  in  tlic  navy 
has  heavy  expenses  and  comparatively  small  pay.  He  nuist 
ha\e  his  own  bed  linen  and  blankets  and  towels,  and  must  be 
provided  witli  all  in  such  (|uantities  that  he  may  not  run  short 
on  a  long  cruise. 


AN   OKEirEK  S    OT'TFTT. 


An  officer  usually  carries  about  two  dozen  pairs  of  white 
trousers,  six  or  eight  white  coats,  five  dozen  white  shirts  and 
underwear,  socks  and  handkerchiefs  in  proportion.  lie  has 
a  light  serge  suit  and  a  light  clf)th  suit  for  summer  wear,  .ind 


MESt^ES  IX   THE  NAVY.  :W1 

is  usually  provided  with  the   following  additional  articles  of 
wearing  apparel: 

Evening  dress  coat $45  oo 

Evening  dress  waistcoat ^  °° 

Evening  dress  trousers ^^  °° 

Special  dress  coat ^5  oo 

^1  20   oo 

Chapeau   

T-        1   .  40  00 

Epaulets  

White  duck  cap  skeleton -  50 

^,    ^,  7  00 

Cloth   cap ^ 

T5  u  14  00 

Belts  ^ 

Sword,  sword  knot,  etc ^^  °° 

^  .  SO  00 

Overcoat   

Shoulder  straps 4  00 

Waterproof  coat ^5  00 

All  this  is  a  part  of  a  junior  officer's  outfit.  Officers  ot 
higher  rank  are  required  10  have  more  elaborate  and  expensive 
uniforms.  Officers  in  the  navy  usually  give  directions  to  the 
pay  department  to  send  a  certain  amount  of  their  pay  to  their 
homes  every  month.  This  is  known  as  the  "allotment."  and 
must  be  taken  into  consideration  when  the  officer  makes  his 
mess  calculation. 

The  pay  is  small,  the  -expenses  are  great,  and  in  many  in- 
stances where  liberal  hospitality  is  dispensed  in  the  wardroom, 
while  every  man  is  the  embodiment  of  hospitality  and  open- 
handedness.  somebody  ashore,  many  miles  away,  who  is  dearer 
to  the  officer  than  the  casual  friend  for  a  day  whom  he  is  help- 
ing to  entertain,  will  be  short  just  the  amount  which  falls  to 
the  account  of  the  officer. 

The  annual  pay  of  officers  in  the  navy  is: 

T^     .  $1,200 

Ensign    ^  ' 

Lieutenant,  junior  grade ^•^°° 

Lieutenant,  senior  grade ^-^^ 

Lieutenant-commander   ^-"^^ 

Commander   ^'^ 

r~     .   ■  4.500 

Captain  ^  ^ 

r~  A  S.ooo 

Commodore   

r,  1     •     1  6.000 

Rear-admiral   


?>82  MESSI-:s   l.\   Till-:  NAVY. 

The  government  allows  all  officers  thirty  cents  a  day  in  lieu 
of  rations.  This  was  formerly  divided  into  two  parts — twenty- 
five  cents  in  rations  proper  and  five  cents  for  liquor.  When 
the  liciuor  ration  was  abolished  in  1863  the  five  cents  was  added 
to  the  regular  ration  allowance  for  every  person,  of^cer  or 
enlisted  man,  in  the  navy. 


NATAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO.  383 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

NAVAL     P.ATTLE     AT     SANTIAGO. 

CERVERA  MADE  A  CREAT  EFFORT,  BUT  IN  TWO  HOURS  HIS  FLEET 
WAS  WRECKED — RIDDLED  WITH  SHELLS — HEAVY  ARMOR, 
TOO,  WAS  PERFORATED  WITH  PROJECTILES  FROM  AMERICAN 
GUNS. 

Magnificent  beyond  description  was  the  bold  dash  by  which 
Cervera  attempted  to  get  his  fleet  out  of  Santiago  harbor. 
Cervera  himseh'  led  the  way  with  his  flagship,  the  Cristobal 
Colon.  It  was  to  be  a  dash  to  liberty  or  to  death,  and  the 
Spanish  admiral  made  the  plunge  with  eyes  open. 

Sunday  quiet  rested  over  the  entrance  to  Santiago  harbor. 
No  signs  of  life  were  visible  about  old  Morro.  Beyond  and 
toward  the  city  of  Santiago  all  was  still.  After  two  days  of 
fighting  the  armies  of  both  nations  were  resting  in  their 
trenches.  Off  this  way,  for  half  a  dozen  miles  from  shore,  most 
of  the  vessels  of  Admiral  Sampson's  fleet  lay  lazily  at  anchor. 

Admiral  Sampson  had  set  out  in  the  morning  to  dislodge  the 
Spanish  from  their  works  at  Aguadores,  where  the  Michigan 
troops  were  repulsed  along  the  line  of  railway  Saturday  morn- 
ing while  they  were  marching  westward  to  seize  the  Morro 
battery  and  blow  up  the  fort.  The  American  torpedo-boats 
were  not  with  the  fleet.  When  Admiral  Sampson  left  the 
Morro  the  battleships  and  the  cruiser  Brooklyn  were  grouped 
off  the  harbor  mouth. 

COLON     DARTED     OUT     FIRST. 

It  is  not  known  whether  Admiral  Cervera  blew  up  the  Mer- 
rimac  or  passed  it  in  single  column.  The  Cristobal  Colon  first 
glided  out  of  the  harbor  and  shot  to  the  westward.  Her  two 
funnels  and  high,   black   bulwarks   showed  plain   against  the 


384  NATAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTLiGO. 

green  of  the  hills,  her  pennant  and  the  Spanish  red  and  yellow 
ensign  waving  above. 

In  a  few  seconds  the  American  fleet  was  in  motion,  the  In- 
diana, which  was  closest,  heading  straight  in  shore  to  get  close 
range.  The  Spaniards  opened  hre  with  an  ii-inch  Hontoria 
gun,  and  mighty  fountains  of  water  rose  above  the  battleship 
and  wet  her  decks.    The  shell  fell  near  her  bow. 

The  Indiana  replied  with  her  13-inch  guns,  and  a  moment 
later  let  go  everything  she  could  bring  to  bear. 

One  of  the  first  shells  fell  on  the  Spanish  cruiser's  deck. 
Cervera  was  then  going  past,  and  the  Indiana  rounded  to  give 
him  a  broadside.  As  the  Iowa  and  the  Texas  opened  fire  the 
Almirante  Oquendo  was  just  coming  into  view  in  the  harbor 
mouth. 

At  first  one  could  hardly  believe  his  eyes,  but  when  the 
Oquendo  appeared  and  steamed  swiftly  w^estward  into  the 
smoke,  where  Cervera's  flag  still  flew,  it  flashed  upon  those  on 
the  American  fleet  that  here  was  to  be  history-making  indeed. 
It  was  a  sublime  spectacle  of  a  desperate  admiral,  who  had  de- 
cided to  give  battle  against  overwhelming  odds  in  the  open 
water  rather  than  remain  and  blow  up  his  own  ships  in  the 
harbor  of  the  beleaguered  city. 

SPANISH     FIRED     BRO.ADSIDES. 

Cervera's  flag  was  hidden  for  a  time  as  he  fled  westward,  his 
port  broadside  emitting  flashes  of  flame,  which  marked  his 
progress.  For  the  next  five  minutes  he  ran  a  gauntlet  such  as 
lew  ships  had  ever  run  in  history. 

The  Indiana  fell  on  the  Oquendo.  paying  no  heed  to  the 
Morro  battery,  whose  gunners  tried  hard  to  protect  the  cruiser 
as  she  moved  to  the  westward.  The  Iowa  let  Cervera  go  on 
into  the  hands  of  the  Oregon.  Massachusetts  and  Brooklyn, 
and  then  turned,  with  the  Texas,  to  pound  the  Oquendo.  Soon 
every  American  ship  in  the  vicinity  was  in  action.  Smoke 
shrouded  the  coast  and  blew  away  lazily,  revealing  geysers 
about  the  ships  where  the  Spanish  shells  from  the  cruisers  and 
the  Morro  tore  the  water. 


NAYAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO.  387 

Another  ship  emerged  from  the  harbor.  It  was  the  Vizcaya, 
coming  at  full  speed,  smoke  curling  over  her  bow  as  she  took 
her  course  to  the  westward  and  brought  her  bow  guns  into 
play. 

Next  came  the  Infanta  i\Iaria  Teresa  and  Spain's  two  dreaded 
torpedo-boat  destroyers,  perhaps  200  yards  apart.  The  Maria 
Teresa  was  received  with  a  terrific  storm  of  shells.  Smashed 
and  on  fire  she  was  beached  close  to  the  Morro. 


AMERICAN     STRATEGY 

The  Iowa  steamed  for  a  time  forward  with  the  Oquendo  and 
the  Indiana  did  the  same  with  the  Vizcaya.  As  the  fight  thus 
moved  westward  it  became  clear  that  the  Americans  were  will- 
ing that  the  Spanish  ships  should  run  far  enough  from  the 
Morro  to  lose  the  aid  of  the  guns  there,  and  in  twenty  minutes 
this  was  done. 

Both  the  Oquendo  and  the  Vizcaya  were  sometimes  within 
1000  yards  of  the  Indiana.  The  range  varied,  but.  as  a  rule,  it 
was  short  and  extremely  deadly.  Nevertheless,  the  high  speed 
and  thick  armor  of  their  clas.'i  stood  the  Spanish  ships  in  good 
stead  as  they  followed  in  the  path  of  honor  marked  out  by 
Admiral  Cervera. 

Three-quarters  of  an  hour  after  the  action  began  it  was  evi- 
dent that  the  Spanish  had  many  guns  disabled  and  would  have 
to  surrender.  There  were  terrible  casualties  on  the  enemy's 
ships.  As  the  smoke  cleared  a  little  one  could  see  the  Spanish 
flagship,  her  port  broadside  spouting  smoke,  still  holding  on 
to  the  westward. 

The  Texas  and  the  Massachusetts  joined  the  Indiana  and  the 
Iowa.  The  Oquendo  and  the  Vizcaya  hugged  the  shore  and 
steamed  after  Cervera  on  the  Colon,  to  go  with  him  to  defeat 
and  death. 

SHIPS     SET     ON      FIRE. 

Shells  burst  on  the  decks  of  the  Spanish  cruisers  at  short 
intervals.     Often  the  ships  were  on  fire,  but  again  and  again 


388  NAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO. 

their  crews  extinguished  the  flames  and   manned  again  and 
again  the  guns  from  which  they  had  been  driven. 

The  green  coast  smoked  with  the  shells  which  flew  over 
them,  and  crashing  sounds  heard  amid  the  thunder  of  great 
rifles  told  of  armor-piercing  shells  driven  into  and  through  the 
protected  sides  of  Cervera's  ships.  Still  they  fired.  Their 
shots  fell  about  the  Indiana  and  Iowa  thickly. 

GREAT     WORK     OF     THE     GLOUCESTER. 

Lieutenant-Commander  Wainwright,  of  the  Gloucester,  like 
Nelson,  seemed  to  have  a  blind  eye.  If  he  were  signalled  to 
pull  out,  he  remained,  with  his  six-pounders,  to  do  work 
Vi'hich  was  both  heroic  and  astonishing.  At  one  time  the 
Gloucester  was  being  fired  at  by  the  Vizcaya,  both  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers  and  the  Morro  battery.  That  she  was  not 
sunk  and  that  she  had  enough  men  left  to  work  her  guns  was 
marvelous. 

She  lay  close  in  to  where  the  Vizcaya  came  out,  and  ran 
along  parallel,  firing  at  the  cruiser  as  fiercely  in  proportion  to 
her  size  as  did  the  Indiana  and  Iowa.  Captahi  Eulate,  of  the 
Vizcaya,  probably  feared  a  torpedo  from  the  Gloucester,  for 
he  turned  loose  his  secondary  battery  at  her  as  he  passed  on 
into  a  storm  of  shells  from  the  battleships. 

Then  the  destroyers  came  on,  and  the  Gloucester  accepted 
them  at  once  as  parts  of  her  contract.  These  destroyers  were 
strong  in  machine  guns  and  guns  of  the  three  and  six-pounder 
class.  It  seemed  that  smoke  jets  burst  from  them  in  twenty 
places  as  they  slipped  along  after  the  Vizcaya.  The  water  all 
about  the  Gloucester  was  kept  splashing  by  shells  and  by  bul- 
lets from  machine  guns.  But  the  yacht  steamed  ahead,  keep- 
ing the  destroyers  directly  between  her  and  the  shore  and  ham- 
mering them.  The  Morro  was  throwing  shells  from  behind, 
and  occasionally  the  Vizcaya  turned  a  gun  or  two  to  aid  her 
followers. 

In  ten  minutes  the  fire  of  the  destroyers  slackened,  but, 
although  some  of  their  guns  were  disabled,  their  machinery 


XAVAL    liATTLE    AT    t^ANTLWO. 


389 


was  all  right,  and  they  moved  on  until  Morro  could  no  longer 
take  part  in  the  battle. 

THE     NKW     YORK     TAKES     PART. 

Then  the  New  York  appeared,  having  been  summoned  to 
return  from  Aguadores.  She  was  six  miles  away  when  the  de- 
stroyers saw  her.  The  Morro  thundered  at  Sampson  as  he 
came  within  range,  but  the  Admiral  never  heeded,  seeing  only 
in  the  distance  the  dim  forms  of  the  Vizcaya  and  the  Oquendo, 
hopelessly  hemmed  in  by  a  circle  of  fire,  and  in  the  foreground 
the  Gloucester,  fighting  two  destroyers  at  short  range. 

When  the  destroyers  saw  the  flagship  they  sped  away  from 
the  Gloucester  and  tried  to  overtake  the  Vizcaya  and  get  into 
sheher  on  her  starboard  side.  If  that  could  not  be  done  there 
ought  to  be  a  chance  to  torpedo  the  Indiana  and  break  through 
our  line  to  the  open  sea,  where  speed  would  save  them,  but  the 
Indiana  steamed  in  shore  and  the  Iowa  went  further  away.    _  ^ 

The  Indiana's  secondary  battery  had  the  first  destroyer's 
range,  and  rained  shells  upon  her.  Splintered  and  torn,  but 
still  with  their  steering  gear  and  machinery  intact,  both  de- 
stroyers turned  back  to  run  for  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  and 
seek  safety  inside,  but  it  was  too  late.  The  fight  had  been 
carried  nearly  four  miles  west  of  the  Alorro.  and  the  New  York 
was  already  past  the  harbor  mouth. 

The  Gloucester  was  ready  for  the  destroyers  close  at  hand. 
She  and  the  destroyers  and  the  Indiana  formed  a  triangle  of 
which  the  destroyers  were  the  apex,  and  the  American  fire, 
converging,  was  too  fierce  for  human  beings  to  withstand. 

A     CARNIVAL     OF     DESTRUCTION. 

One  destroyer  drifted  into  the  surf  of  fire  a  battered  wreck, 
..nd  then  crept  on  toward  the  Gloucester  and  the  New  York, 
v\-ith  her  guns  silent  and  showing  a  flag  of  truce.  She  was  on 
nre,  and  her  crew  ran  her  ashore  to  save-the  lives  of  those  who 
had  escaped  the  shells.  She  blew  up  soon  after  they  abandoned 
her. 


390  \AVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO. 

The  Spanish  admiral  was  lost  in  smoke  to  the  westward, 
when  the  Oquendo  went  ashore,  with  flames  bursting  from  her 
decks.  The  Iowa,  Indiana,  Texas  and  Massachusetts  ceased 
firing,  the  Massachusetts  going  to  join  the  Oregon  and  the 
Brooklyn  in  hunting  up  and  smashing  Cervera's  ship. 

Once  headed  off  the  Oquendo  turned  into  a  small  bay  four 
or  five  miles  west  of  Santiago,  where  she  lay  close  to  the  land. 
With  an  ever-weakening  broadside  the  Vizcaya  followed,  first 
heading  out  as  if  to  break  through  the  line  of  battle.  The  In- 
diana and  Iowa  closed  in,  and  their  formation  made  her  escape 
in  that  direction  impossible. 

Captain  Eulate  then  attempted  to  reach  the  east  side  of  the 
bay,  occupied  by  the  Oquendo,  but  in  vain.  The  Vizcaya's  bul- 
warks near  the  stern  had  been  torn  away.  Smoke  poured  out 
where  shells  had  exploded  inside,  and  she  was  on  fire.  Her 
guns,  with  the  exception  of  those  forward,  were  out  of  action. 
Her  bow  guns  were  still  fired  at  intervals.  Those  who  were 
not  working  the  bow  guns  crowded  forward  to  escape  the 
smoke  and  fire  aft. 

The  Oquendo  was  soon  ashore,  her  guns  silent  and  smoke 
rising  in  thick,  black  clouds  from  her. 

There  was  a  thundering  of  guns  to  the  westward  now,  and 
flashes  told  that  Cervera  still  fought,  but  to  the  eastward  of 
his  ship  lay  the  burning  wrecks  of  his  two  destroyers. 

The  torpedo-boat  Ericcson  was  seen  coming  along  with  the 
New  York.  The  Indiana  and  the  Iowa  were  closing  in,  and 
shell  after  shell  burst  above  and  aboard  the  Vizcaya.  Eulate 
hoisted  a  white  flag  as  his  ship  went  ashore  to  save  the  rem- 
nant of  his  men.  Simultaneously  up  went  a  flag  of  white  on 
the  Oquendo,  and  down  came  the  flag  of  Spain. 


BUT     ONE     SHIP     LEFT. 

.\n  hour  and  one-half  bad  elapsed  since  Cervera  left  the  har- 
bor, and  of  the  vessels  which  came  out  only  his  flagship  was 
still  in  action. 

Cervera  passed  the  bay  in  which  the  Oquendo  had  sought 
refuge  and  held  on  a  due  westward  course  close  to  the  land,  but 


XAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO.  391 

evidently  nourishing  the  desperate  hope  that  he  might  break 
through  the  line  and  reach  free  water.  He  had  passed  in  suc- 
cession the  Indiana,  the  Iowa  and  the  Texas,  not  to  speak  of 
the  little  Gloucester,  which  spouted  six-pounder  shells  at  him. 
Since  his  flag  had  appeared  outside  the  harbor  his  ship  had 
been  struck  again  and  again.  By  this  time  the  Vizcaya  and 
the  Oquendo  were  beaten,  but  in  spite  of  the  12  and  13-mch 
shells  that  were  rained  upon  him  at  a  range  which  was  short 
for  such  guns,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  his  boilers  and  machinery 
were  damaged,  he  held  his  course.  From  a  point  a  mile  west 
of  the  Morro  the  Cristobal  Colon  was  invisible  frequently  m 
low-hanging  smoke  from  her  own  guns  and  also  that  which 
drifted  in  shore  from  the  battleships. 

CERVER.A.     HEADED     OFF. 

At  half-past  11  o'clock  Cervera  saw  the  Oregon  coming  in 
shore  ahead  of  him  to  round  him  to.  The  smoke  was  very 
thick.    The  firing  was  incessant. 

Cervera's  available  guns  were  no  longer  well  served.  Shells 
had  set  fire  to  his  ship  near  the  stem,  and  the  flames  were  con- 
trolled with  difficulty,  but  the  Spanish  admiral  altered  his 
course  and  headed  of?  from  the  coast,  as  if  to  attempt  to  pass 
between  the  ships  and  run  for  it. 

It  was  impossible.  The  Iowa  and  the  Texas  were  already 
moving  down  to  close  the  gap,  and  the  Spanish  flagship,  raked 
by  the  Oregon  and  the  Brooklyn  at  from  1000  to  3000  yards, 
and  by  the  Iowa  and  the  Texas  at  longer  range,  turned  in 
shore  again  and  ran  for  the  rocks,  where  the  surf  was  breakmg. 
Cervera  still  replied  occasionally. 

FLAGSHIP     IN     A     BLAZE. 

But  his  ship  moved  slowly  now.  as  if  disabled,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  more  his  guns  were  silent.  Black  smoke  replaced  the 
swirling  white.  The  flagship  was  aflame.  Her  men  had  been 
unable  either  to  work  the  guns  or  smother  the  flames  caused 
by  bursting  shells,  and  she  was  headed  for  the  rocks. 


'392  AAr.l/>    HATTLH    AT    SAXTIAGO. 

She  struck  bow  on  and  rested  there.  Red  flames  burst 
through  the  black  smoke,  and  soon  a  pillar  of  cloud  rose 
straight  up  looo  feet  and  then  bent  against  the  green  moun- 
tain. 

Cervera's  ship  was  hopelessly  lost.  The  American  battle- 
ships ceased  firing  before  she  struck,  and  ran  in,  apparently 
with  the  intention  of  .saving  the  survivors  as  prisoners.  This 
was  evidently  expected  by  the  Spaniards,  hundreds  of  whom 
thronged  the  forward  deck,  watching  the  flames  eating  their 
way  toward  them.    These  were  taken  prisoners. 

INCIDENTS   OF  THE   BATTLE. 

vizcaya's    awful    plight. 

Captain  Usher,  of  the  Ericcson,  made  a  hard  run  to  get  a 
sliot  at  the  Vizcaya,  but  a  white  flag  was  floating  over  Captain 
Eulate's  vessel  when  the  Ericcson  came  up.  "The  American 
shells  had  torn  holes  through  the  Vizcaya's  12-inch  plates," 
said  Captain  Usher  afterward,  "and  through  them  I  could  see 
naked  men,  bloody  and  gashed,  roasting  in  the  shell  of  the 
boat.  Her  guns  had  been  left  shotted  and  were  going  off  by 
themselves  from  heat,  but  by  care  we  were  able  to  get  along- 
s'de. 

"Her  decks  and  sides  were  almost  red-hot.  Two  men  were 
climbing  down  a  davit  tackle,  and,  as  the  ship  rolled,  they 
would  swing  against  her  scorching  side,' then  swing  back  and 
out  again. 

"T  took  no  men  off  the  Vizcaya.  all  as  naked  as  when  they 
were  born.  I  know  of  no  worse  sight  than  naked  men.  with 
bleeding  wounds  exposed.  One  swam  toward  me.  'Are  you 
;ilsn  an  ofiRcer?'  I  asked.  'No,'  he  answered;  'only  a  mournful 
'-..Idier'" 

QUICK     WORK     BY     THE     FLEET. 

The  following  was  written  by  a  naval  officer  on  the  battleship 
Iowa: 

A  little  after  three  bells  in  the  forenoon  watch  the  inspection 


l^AVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO.  395 

of  oiir  ship  had  been  concluded,  and  as  the  officer  of  the  watch 
was  reUeving  the  navigating  officer  he  heard  a  quick  cry  to  call 
the  captain,  followed  by  a  shout: 

"There  come  the  Spaniards  out  of  the  harbor!" 
The  trained  eye  of  the  alert  officer  had  marked  the  thin  trail 
of  drifting  smoke,  and  before  the  signals,  "Clear  ship  for  ac- 
tion," had  been  given  the  bows  of  the  Spanish  vessels,  rushing 
in  "line  ahead,"  were  seen  darting  around  Zocapa  point  for 
the  open  sea. 

In  a  moment  all  was  bustle  and  trained  energy.  Men  rushed 
to  their  quarters,  guns  were  trained,  and  in  less  than  twenty 
seconds  the  whistling  shriek  of  a  rapid-fire  gun  warned  the 
startled  fleet  of  the  hot  work  awaiting.  In  two  minutes  every 
gun  on  shipboard  was  cast  loose,  manned,  loaded  and  ready 
for  the  long-expected  signal  to  fire. 

At  the  yardarm  of  our  battleship  a  string  of  signal  flags 
warned  the  fleet  that  the  enemy  was  trying  to  escape,  but  even 
before  the  answering  pennants  of  the  other  ships  announced 
their  understanding  of  the  message  every  vessels  was  dashing 
to  the  stations  long  before  allotted  for  the  emergency  which 
had  come  at  last. 

It  was  a  splendid  spectacle.  The  Spaniards,  with  bottled 
steam,  cleared  the  harbor's  mouth,  seemingly  in  a  moment. 
Under  their  eager  prows  a  column  of  foam  whitened  the  long 
billows  and  their  bubbling  wakes  left  a  furrow  as  sharp  as  a 
racing  yacht  making  a  winning  run  for  the  finish  line.  Their 
course  was  shaped  for  the  westward,  but  as  fast  as  they  sped 
in  their  desperate  break  for  freedom,  faster  flew  the  shells  of 
the  pursuing  Americans. 

The  first  heavy  shell  from  the  Iowa's  battery  fell  short,  and 
then  by  a  mischance  so  did  the  second,  but  afterward  the  rain 
of  shot  fell  surely  and  unsparingly  upon  the  fleeing  foe. 

Not  a  whit  behind  in  this  eager  fusilade  roared  the  batteries 
of  the  Spanish  ships.  Their  port  broadsides  flamed,  but  it  was 
more  a  splendid  display  of  fireworks  than  a  successful  effort 
to  damage  the  targets  of  our  ships. 

In  fifteen  minutes  after  they  were  discovered  the  four  Span- 
ish armored  cruisers  had  cleared  the  wide  entrance,  and  five 


.■mm;  .v. II. I/,    liATTLi:    AT    S.WTIAao. 

minutes  later  the  torpedo-boat  destroyers,  hugging  the  beach 
and  seeking  the  sheltering  broadsides  of  their  sister  ships,  flew 
into  the  turmoil  of  the  action.  At  this  time  every  gun  of  the 
American  squadron  that  could  be  brought  to  bear  was  pump- 
ing projectiles  into  the  enemy. 

In  an  instant,  it  almost  seemed,  a  ship  of  the  Vizcaya  class 
burst  into  flames,  caused,  undoubtedly,  by  a  long,  sure  shot 
from  the  Oregon  or  the  Texas.  A  minute  later  a  12-inch 
projectile  struck  the  flagship  Maria  Teresa  near  her  after- 
smokepipe.  A  tremendous  explosion  followed.  Then  she  was 
shrouded  in  smoke  and  was  lighted  with  lurid  flames;  and 
when  the  powder  cloud  blew  down  she  was  seen  helm  hard 
aport  rushing  for  the  beach. 

Twenty-five  minutes  after  the  first  ship  had  been  sighted 
half  the  Spanish  fleet  had  surrendered  or  was  on  fire.  The 
remainder  of  the  battle  was  easy. 

COMMANDER   OF  THE   IOWA   TELLS  OF  CERVERA's   DESTRUCTION. 

Captain  Evans's  account  of  the  battle,  as  told  in  the  cabin  of 
the  Iowa  to  a  correspondent  of  the  Associated  Press,  is  in- 
tensely interesting.    He  said: 

"At  the  time  'general  quarters'  was  sounded  the  engine  bell 
rang  full  speed  ahead,  and  I  put  the  helm  to  starboard  and  the 
Iowa  crossed  the  bows  of  the  Infanta  Maria  Teresa,  the  first 
ship  out.  As  the  Spanish  admiral  swung  to  the  westward  the 
i 2-inch  shells  from  the  forward  turret  of  the  Iowa  seemed  to 
strike  him  fair  in  the  bow,  and  the  fight  was  a  spectacle. 

"As  the  squadron  came  out  in  column,  the  ships  beautifully 
spaced  as  to  distance,  and  gradually  increasing  their  speed  ti> 
their  thirteen  knots,  it  was  superb. 

"The  Iowa,  from  this  moment,  kept  up  a  steady  fire  from  her 
heavy  guns,  heading  all  the  time  to  keep  the  Infanta  Maria 
Teresa  on  her  starboard  bow  and  hoping  to  ram  one  of  the 
leading  ships. 

"In  the  meantime,  the  Oregon,  Indiana,  Brooklyn  and 
Texas  were  doing  excellent  work  with  their  heavy  guns. 

"Ill  a  very  short  space  of  time  the  enemy's  ships  were  all 


NAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO.  397 

clear  of  the  harbor  mouth,  and  it  became  evidently  impossible 
for  the  Iowa  to  ram  either  the  first  or  the  second  ship  on  ac- 
count of  their  speed. 

A    BROADSIDE    AT    2000    YARDS. 

"The  range  at  this  time  was  2000  yards  from  the  leading 
ship.  The  Iowa's  helm  was  immediately  put  hard  to  the  star- 
board and  the  entire  starboard  broadside  was  poured  into  the 
Infanta  Maria  Teresa.  The  helm  was  then  quickly  shifted  to 
port  and  the  ship  headed  across  the  stern  of  the  Teresa  in  an 
effort  to  head  ofY  the  Oquendo.  All  the  time  the  engines  were 
driving  at  full  speed  ahead.  A  perfect  torrent  of  shells  from 
the  enemy  passed  over  the  smokestacks  and  superstructure  of 
the  ship,  but  none  struck  her. 

"The  Cristobal  Colon,  being  much  faster  than  the  rest  of 
the  Spanish  ships,  passed  rapidly  to  the  front  in  an  effort  to 
escape.  In  passing  the  Iowa  the  Colon  placed  two  six-inch 
shells  fairly  in  our  starboard  bow.  One  passed  through  the 
cofiferdam  and  dispensary,  wrecking  the  latter  and  bursting 
on  the  berth  deck,  doing  considerable  damage.  The  other 
passed  through  the  side  at  the  water-line  with  the  cofiferdam. 
where  it  still  remains. 

"As  it  was  now  obviously  impossible  to  ram  any  of  the 
Spanish  ships  on  account  of  their  superior  speed,  the  Iowa's 
helm  was  put  to  the  starboard  and  she  ran  on  a  course  parallel 
with  the  enemy. 

TERRIFIC     PUNISHMENT     OF     THE     OQUENDO. 

"Being  then  abreast  of  the  Almirante  Oquendo,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  1 100  yards,  the  Iowa's  entire  battery,  including  the 
rapid-fire  guns,  was  opened  on  the  Oquendo.  The  punishment 
was  terrific.  iMany  twelve  and  8-inch  shells  were  seen  to  ex- 
plode inside  of  her.  and  smoke  came  out  through  her  hatches. 
Two  12-inch  shells  from  the  Iowa  pierced  the  Almirante 
Oquendo  at  the  same  moment,  one  forward  and  the  other  aft. 
The  Oquendo  seemed  to  stop  her  engines  for  a  moment  and 


398  NAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO. 

lost  headway,  but  she  immediately  resumed  her  speed  and 
gradually  drew  ahead  of  the  Iowa  and  came  under  the  terrific 
fire  of  the  Oregon  and  Texas. 


RECKONING    WITH     THE    TORPEDO-BOATS. 

"At  this  moment  the  alarm  of  'torpedo-boats'  was  sounded, 
and  two  torpedo-boat  destroyers  were  discovered  in  the  star- 
board quarters  at  a  distance  of  4000  yards.  Fire  was  at  once 
•opened  on  them  with  the  after-battery,  and  a  12-inch  shell  cut 
the  stern  of  one  destroyer  squarely  ofT.  As  the  shell  struck  a 
torpedo-boat  fired  back  at  the  battleship,  sending  a  shell 
within  a  few  feet  of  my  head.  I  said  to  Executive  Officer 
Rogers,  'That  little  chap  has  got  a  lot  of  cheek.'  Rogers 
shouted  back,  'She  shoots  very  well,  all  the  same.' 

"Well  among  the  advancing  cruisers,  spitting  shots  at  one 
and  then  at  another,  was  the  little  Gloucester,  shooting  first  at 
a  cruiser  and  then  at  a  torpedo-boat  and  hitting  a  head 
wherever  she  saw  it.  The  marvel  was  that  she  was  not  de- 
stroyed by  the  rain  c    shells. 

THE     VIZCAYA     C.ETS     HER     DOSE. 

"In  the  meantitne  the  Vizcaya  was  slowly  drawing  abeam  o' 
the  Iowa,  and  for  the  space  of  fifteen  minutes  it  was  give  and 
take  between  the  two  ships.  The  Vizcaya  fired  rapidly  but 
wildly,  not  one  shot  taking  effect  on  the  Iowa,  while  the  shells 
from  the  Iowa  were  tearing  great  rents  in  the  sides  of  the 
Vizcaya.  As  the  latter  passed  ahead  of  the  Iowa  she  came 
under  the  murderous  fire  of  the  Oregon.  At  this  time  the 
Infanta  Maria  Teresa  and  the  Almirante  Oquendo,  leading  the 
enemy's  column,  were  seen  to  l)e  heading  for  the  l)each  and  in 
flames.  The  Texas,  Oregon  and  Iowa  pounded  them  unmerci- 
fully. They  ceased  to  reply  to  the  fire,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
the  Spanish  cruisers  were  a  inass  of  flames  and  on  the  rocks 
with  their  colors  down,  the  Teresa  flying  a  white  flag  at  the 
fore. 


N'AVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO.  399 

"The  crews  of  the  enemy's  ships  stripped  themselves  and 
hegan  jumping  overboard,  and  one  of  the  smaller  magazines 
began  to  explode. 

"Meanwhile  the  Brooklyn  and  the  Cristobal  Colon  were  ex- 
changing compliments  in  a  likely  fashion  at  apparently  long 
range,  and  the  Oregon,  with  her  locomotive  speed,  was  hang- 
ing well  on  the  Colon  and  also  paymg  attention  to  the 
Vizcaya. 

"The  Teresa  and  the  Oquendo  were  in  flames  on  the  beach 
just  twenty  minutes  after  the  first  shot  was  fired.  Fifty  min- 
utes after  the  first  shot  was  fired  the  Vizcaya  put  her  helm  to 
port,  with  a  great  burst  of  flame  from  the  after  part  of  the 
ship,'  and  headed  slowly  for  the  rocks  at  Aserradero,  where 
she  found  her  last  resting  place. 


THE    END    OF    THE    VIZCAYA. 

"As  it  was  apparent  that  the  Iowa  could  not  possibly  catch 
the  Cristobal  Colon,  and  that  the  Oregon  and  Brooklyn  un- 
doubtedly would,  and  as  the  fast  New  York  was  also  on  her 
trail,  I  decided  that  the  calls  of  humanity  should  be  answered 
and  attention  given  to  the  1200  or  1500  Spanish  officers  and 
men  who  had  struck  their  colors  to  the  American  squadron 
commanded  by  Admiral  Sampson. 

"I,  therefore,  headed  for  the  wreck  of  the  Vizcaya,  now  burn- 
ing furiously  fore  and  aft.  When  I  was  in  as  far  as  the  depth 
of  water  would  admit  I  lowered  all  my  boats  and  sent  them  at 
once  to  the  assistance  of  the  unfortunate  men.  who  were  being 
drowned  by  dozens  or  roasted  on  the  decks. - 

"I  soon  discovered  that  the  insurgent  Cubans  from  the 
shore  were  shooting  on  men  who  were  struggling  in  the  water 
after  having  surrendered  to  us.  I  immediately  put  a  stop  to 
this,  but  I  could  not  put  a  stop  to  the  mutilation  of  many 
bodies  by  the  sharks  inside  the  reef. 

"These  creatures  had  become  excited  by  the  blood  from  the 
wounded  mixing  in  the  water. 


400  NAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAGO: 

PRAISE     FOR     HIS     BRAVE     CREW. 

"My  boat's  crews  worked  manfully  and  succeeded  in  saving 
many  of  the  wounded  from  the  burning  ship. 

"One  man  who  will  be  recommended  for  promotion  clam- 
bered up  the  side  of  the  Vizcaya  and  saved  three  men  from 
burning  to  death.  The  smaller  magazines  of  the  Vizcaya  were 
exploding  with  magnificent  cloud  effects.  The  boats  were 
coming  alongside  in  a  steady  string,  and  willing  hands  were 
helping  the  lacerated  Spanish  officers  and  sailors  on  to  the 
Iowa's  quarterdeck.  All  the  Spaniards  were  absolutely  with- 
out clothes.  Some  had  their  legs  torn  off  by  fragments  of 
shells.     Others  were  mutilated  in  every  conceivable  way. 

"The  bottoms  of  the  boats  held  two  or  three  inches  of  blood. 
In  many  cases  dead  men  were  lying  in  the  blood.  Five  poor 
chaps  died  on  the  way  to  the  ship.  They  were  afterward 
buried  with  military  honors  from  the  Iowa.  Some  examples 
of  heroism,  or,  more  properly,  devotion  to  discipline  and  duty, 
could  never  be  surpassed.  One  man  on  the  lost  Vizcaya  had 
his  left  arm  almost  shot  off  just  below  the  shoulder.  The 
fragments  were  hanging  by  a  small  piece  of  skin;  but  he 
climbed  unassisted  over  the  side  and  saluted  as  if  on  a  visit  of 
ceremony.  Immediately  after  him  came  a  strong,  hearty  sailor, 
whose  left  leg  had  been  shot  ofif  above  the  knee.  He  was 
hoisted  on  board  the  Iowa  with  a  tackle,  but  never  a  whimper 
came  from  him.  Gradually  the  mangled  bodies  and  naked  well 
men  accumulated  until  it  would  have  been  most  difficult  to 
recognize  it  as  a  United  States  battleship. 


CAPTAIN     EUI.ATE     IN    TEARS. 

"Blood  was  all  over  her  usually  white  (luarterdeck,  and  272 
naked  men  were  being  supplied  with  water  and  food  by  those 
who  a  few  minutes  before  had  been  using  a  rapid-fire  gun  on 
them.  Finally  came  two  boats  with  Captain  Eulate,  com- 
mander of  the  Vizcaya,  for  whom  a  chair  was  lowered  over  the 
side,  as  he  was  evidently  wounded.  The  captain's  guard  of 
marines  was  drawn  up  on  the  quarterdeck  to  salute  him.  and 


XAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SAXTIAGO. 


401 


I  stood  waiting  to  welcome  him.  As  the  chair  was  placed  on 
the  deck  the  marines  presented  arms.  Captain  Eulate  slowly 
raised  himself  in  the  chair,  saluted  me  with  grave  dignity,  un- 
buckled his  sword-belt,  and,  holding  the  hilt  of  the  sword 
before  him.  kissed  it  reverently,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  then 
surrendered  it  to  me. 

HIS     FAREWELL     TO     HIS     SHIP. 

"Of  course,  I  declined  to  receive  his  sword,  and,  as  the  crev; 
of  the  Iowa  skw  this  they  cheered  like  wild  men.    As  I  started 
to  take  Captain  Eulate  into  the  cabin  to  let  the  doctors  ex- 
amine his  wounds  the  magazine  on  board  the  Vi/xaya  exploded 
with  a  tremendous  burst  of  flame.     Captain  Eulate,  extending 
his  hands    said:    'Adios.  Vizcaya.     There  goes  my  beautiful 
ship    Captain,'  and  so  we  passed  on  to  the  cabin,  where  the 
doctors   dressed   his  three   wounds.     In   the   meantime   thirty 
officers  of  the  Vizcaya  had  been  picked  up,  besides  272  of  her 
crew       Our   wardroom   and   steerage    officers    gave   up   their 
staterooms  and  furnished  food,  clothing  and  tobacco  to  those 
named  officers  from  the  Vizcaya.     The  paymaster  issued  uni- 
forms to  the  naked  sailors,  and  each  was  given  all  the  corned 
beef,  cof¥ee  and  hardtack  he  could  eat.     The  war  had  assumed 

another  aspect.  ,     ,  ,     , 

"As  I  knew  the  crews  of  the  first  two  ships  wrecked  had  not 
been  visited  by  any  of  our  vessels,  I  ran  down  to  them.  I 
found  the  Gloucester,  with  Admiral  Cervera  and  a  number  of 
his  officers  aboard,  and  also  a  large  number  of  wounded,  some 
in  a  frightfully  mangled  condition.  Many  prisoners  had  been 
killed  on  shore  by  the  fire  of  the  Cubans.  The  Harvard  came 
off  and  I  requested  Captain  Cotton  to  go  in  and  take  off  the 
crews  of  the  Infanta  ^laria  Teresa  and  the  Almirante  Oquendo. 
and  by  midnight  the  Harvard  had  0/6  prisoners  aboard,  a  great 
number  of  them  wounded. 


NO 


P.\R.\LLEL    TO     CERVER.\'S    COURAGE. 


"For  courage  and  dash  there  is  no  parallel  in  history  to  this 
action  of  the  Spanish  admiral.    He  came,  as  he  knew,  to  abso- 


402  MAVAL    BATTLE    AT    SANTIAOO. 

lute  destruction.  There  was  one  single  hope — that  was  that 
the  Cristobal  Colon  would  steam  faster  than  the  Brooklyn. 
The  spectacle  of  the  two  torpedo-boat  destroyers,  paper-shells 
at  best,  deliberately  steaming  out  in  broad  daylight  in  the  face 
of  the  fire  of  a  battleship,  can  only  be  described  in  one  way — 
it  was  Spanish  and  it  was  ordered  by  Blanco.  The  same  must 
be  said  of  the  entire  movement. 

"In  contrast  to  this  Spanish  fashion  was  the  cool,  deliberate 
Yankee  work.  The  American  squadron  was  without  senti- 
ment apparently.  The  ships  went  at  their  Spanish  opponents 
and  literally  tore  them  to  pieces.  But  tlic  moment  the  Spanish 
flag  came  down  it  must  have  been  evident  that  the  sentiment 
was  among  the  Americans,  not  among  the  Spaniards. 

EVERY     INCH     AN     ADMIRAL. 

"I  took  Admiral  Cervera  aboard  the  Iowa  from  the  Glou- 
cester, which  had  rescued  him  from  the  dead,  and  received 
him  with  a  full  admiral's  guard.  The  crew  of  the  Iowa  crowded 
aft  over  the  turrets,  half-naked  and  black  with  powder,  as 
Cervera  stepped  over  the  side  bare-headed.  Over  his  under- 
shirt he  wore  a  thick  suit  of  flannel,  borrowed  from  Lieuten- 
ant-Commander Wainwright  of  the  Gloucester.  The  crew 
cheered  vociferously.  Cervera  is  every  inch  an  admiral,  even 
if  he  had  not  any  hat.  He  submitted  to  the  fortunes  of  war 
with  a  grace  that  proclaimed  him  a  thoroughbred." 

Captain  Evans  is  intensely  proud  of  his  ship  and  her  men. 
The  Iowa  fired  thirty-one  12-inch,  forty-eight  eight-inch,  270 
four-inch,  1060  six-pound  and  120  one-pound  shots. 

FEARFUL    HAVOC    ON    THE    VIZCAYA. 

The  officers  of  the  Vizcaya  said  they  simply  could  not  hold 
their  crews  at  the  guns  on  account  of  the  rapid  fire  poured  upon 
them.  The  decks  were  flooded  with  water  from  the  fire  hose, 
and  blood  from  the  wounded  made  this  a  dark  red.  Fragments 
of  bodies' floated  in  this  along  the  gun  deck.  Every  instant  the 
cnack  of  exploding  .shells  told  of  new  havoc.     One  of  the  12- 


> 


•A 

o 


73 


NAVAL    BATTLE    AT    >S.iA  27.100.  405 

inch  shells  from  the  Iowa  exploded  a  torpedo  in  the  Vizcaya's 
bow,  blowing  twenty-one  men  against  the  deck  above  and 
dropping  them  dead  and  mangled  into  the  fire  which  at  once 
started  below. 

The  torpedo-boat  Ericsson  was  sent  by  the  flagship  to  the 
help  of  the  Iowa  in  the  rescue  of  the  Vizcaya's  crew.  Her  men 
saw  a  terrible  sight.  The  flames  leaped  out  from  the  huge 
shot-holes  in  the  Vizcaya's  sides,  licked  up  the  decks,  sizzling 
the  flesh  of  the  wounded,  who  were  lying  there  shrieking  for 
help.  Between  the  frequent  explosions  there  came  awful  cries 
and  groans  from  the  men  pinned  in  below.  This  carnage  was 
chieflly  due  to  the  rapidity  of  the  American's  fire.  Corporal 
Smith,  of  the  Iowa,  fired  135  aimed  shots  in  fifty  minutes  from 
a  four-inch  gun.  Two  shells  struck  within  ten  feet  of  Smith 
and  started  a  small  fire,  but  the  corporal  went  on  pumping 
shots  into  the  enemy,  only  stopping  to  say,  "They've  got  it  in 
for  this  gun,  sir." 

MAGNIFICENT    COURAGE    OF    OUR    GUNNERS. 

From  two  six-pounders  440  shots  were  fired  in  fifty  minutes. 
Up  in  the  tops  the  marines  banged  away  with  one-pounders, 
too  excited  to  step  back  to  duck  as  the  shells  whistled  over 
them.  One  gunner  of  a  secondary  battery  under  a  12-inch 
gun  was  blinded  by  smoke  and  saltpeter  from  the  turret  and 
his  crew  were  driven  off,  but  sticking  a  wet  handkerchief  over 
his  face,  with  holes  cut  for  his  eyes,  he  stuck  to  his  guns. 
Finally,  as  the  six-pounders  were  so  close  to  the  eight-inch 
turret  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  stay  there  with  safety,  the 
men  were  ordered  away  before  the  big  gun  was  fired,  but  they 
refused  to  leave.  When  the  eight-inch  gun  was  fired  the  con- 
cussion blew  two  men  of  the  smaller  gun-crew  ten  feet  from 
their  guns  and  threw  them  to  the  deck  as  deaf  as  posts.  Back 
they  went  again,  however,  and  were  again  blown  away,  and 
finally  had  to  be  dragged  away  from  their  stations.  Such 
bravery  and  such  dogged  determination  under  the  heavy  fire 
were  of  frequent  occurrence  on  all  the  ships  engaged. 


40f;  NAVAL    BATTL/-:    AT    SANTrAGO. 

What  It  Costs  to  AJaintain    Battleships  on  a  Wak 

Footing. 

Total  annual  expenses $547,000 

Pay  of  officers,  crew  and  marines 326,000 

Rations    48  000 

Equipment    12,000 

Navigation    charges 6,000 

Ordnance    18,000 

Construction  and  repairs 13  000 

Steam   engineering 32,000 

General   supplies 14,000 

Medicine,    surgery,    secretary's    office   and   incidental 

expenses    78,000 


DYNAMITE  CRUISER  AND  HOLLAND  BOAT.      407 


CHAPTER    XLIV. 

Ol'R    DYNAMITE    CRUISER    AND    THE    HOLLAND    BOAT. 

THE     VESUVIUS. 

The  Vesuvius  is  in  every  way  unique,  nothing  like  her  in  any 
respect  existing  in  any  other  navy.  She  is  long,  narrow  and 
sits  low  in  the  water.  She  is  constructed  of  unusually  light 
scantling  and  plating,  has  powerful  engines  and  attains  a  high 
speed,  though  nothing  like  as  high  as  a  destroyer.  She  was 
designed  especially  for  torpedo  work,  like  the  destroyer,  but 
was  to  fire  her  torpedo  in  the  air,  and  not,  like  the  destroyer, 
under  the  water.  ' 

The  Vesuvius  was  built  by  the  Cramps,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
was  launched  in  1888,  ten  years  ago.  Like  the  monitor  of 
Ericcson,  she  was  practically  the  invention  and  production  of 
private  individuals,  though  her  construction  was  authorized  by 
the  government  at  a  contract  price  of  $350,000.  Her  principal 
dimensions  are:  Length,  246  feet;  beam,  26.5  feet;  depth,  14 
feet;  mean  draft  of  water,  9  feet,  and  displacement,  805  tons. 

There  was  much  speculation  as  to  the  utility  of  such  a  craft 
as  the  Vesuvius.  Many  able  men  opposed  her  construction 
and  style  of  battery,  but  quite  as  many  took  an  opposite  view, 
extolling  to  the  utmost  the  ship,  her  speed  and  especially  her 
battery  of  pneumatic  dynamite  guns.  Stripped  of  all  exaggera- 
tion, the  Vesuvius  represents  a  new  and  formidable  element  in 
warfare  and  one  which  can  no  longer  be  disposed  of  by  airy 
critics. 

It  is  not  for  a  moment  thought,  even  after  the  splendid  re- 
cent performance  of  this  boat,  that  she  will  create  a  revolution 
in  naval  tactics,  as  was  at  first  contended  by  her  projectors. 
Similar  exaggerated  ofifensive  capabilities  were  for  a  long  time 
ascribed  to  torpedo-boats,  and  very  recently  to  torpedo-boat 


408      DYNAMITE  CRCISER  AXD  HOLLAND  BOAT. 

destroyers,  but  tlie  more  sober-minded  naval  men  and  tacti- 
cians, it  can  be  asserted,  realize  that  the  armored  ship  and  the 
cruiser  are  the  true  types  of  ships  for  fighting  battles  at  sea. 
These  others  are  serviceable  for  special  purposes  and  are  nec- 
essary adjuncts  of  a  fleet.  They  play  an  important  part,  but 
not  the  most  important. 

THE     GUNS     OF     THE     VESUVIUS. 

The  main  armament  carried  by  the  Vesuvius  consists  of  three 
pneumatic  dynamite  guns  placed  side  by  side,  close  together, 
in  the  forward  part  of  the  ship.  These  three  parallel  tubes  are 
built  into  the  ship,  about  fifteen  feet  of  the  muzzles  protruding 
above  the  forecastle  deck,  inclined  at  an  angle  of  about  twenty 
degrees,  the  ends  of  the  muzzles  of  the  tubes  rising  about  five 
feet  above  the  deck  planking.  The  remainder  of  the  tubes  runs 
down  to  the  hold  of  the  ship,  where  the  compressed  air  ma- 
chinery is  and  where  the  ammunition  and  the  breech  and  load- 
ing mechanism  are  situated. 

The  tubes  are  made  of  light  cast  iron,  are  fifty-five  feet  in 
total  length  and  have  an  interior  diameter  of  fifteen  inches. 
There  are  two  air  compressors  to  compress  the  air  that  is  used 
as  the  propellant  to  discharge  the  aerial  torpedoes  from  the 
long  tubes.  The  subaqueous  torpedo  with  whicli  ordinary 
torpedo  craft  are  supplied  is  discharged  usually  by  a  charge  of 
gunpowder,  which  is  quick  in  acting;  hence  the  ordinary  tor- 
pedo gun  is  short,  not  above  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  long;  but 
the  slow,  steady  action  of  the  compressed  air  cannot  reach  its 
maximum  intensity  for  some  time  after  impinging  on  the  base 
of  the  projectile.  It  begins  to  move  the  torpedo  gradually, 
and,  rapidly  increasing  in  propulsive  force,  drives  the  shot  out 
of  the  long  barrel  at  a  high  velocity. 

The  great  benefit  derived  from  the  slow,  steady,  gradually 
increasing  pressure  of  compressed  air  is  that  it  allows  the  use 
of  thin  gun  barrels  or  tubes  and  the  employment  of  immense 
(|uantities  of  the  highest  explosives.  There  is  an  absence  of 
all  shock  and  a  consequent  avoidance  of  the  danger  ordinarily 
connected  with  the  firing  of  dynamite  or  gun-cotton. 


DYNAMITE  CRUISER  AND   HOLLAND  BOAT. 


409 


o 


The  charge  of  explosive  at  first  tried  in  the  pneumatic  dy- 
namite qun  was  500  pounds  of  explosive  gelatine.  This  has 
been  changed  to  about  300  pounds  of  gun-cotton,  the  latter 
bcino-  safer  to  handle.  This  charge  is  held  m  the  front  end  of 
a  ci Jar-shaped  shell  seven  feet  long  and  not  quite  fifteen 
inches  in  diameter. 

The  rear  end  of  the  shell  is  fitted  with  wings  or  fans  to  in- 
sure the  torpedo's  preserving  its  horizontality  during  its  time 
of  fli-ht  This  torpedo  is  loaded  to  the  gun  at  the  breech,  near 
which  there  is  a  revolving  chamber  holding  five  other  torpe- 
does quite  after  the  manner  in  which  the  cartridges  of  a 
Colt's  revolver  are  carried;  hydraulic  power  is  used  to  manipu- 
late this  carrier.  Once  m  place  and  the  breech  closed,  the  air 
valve  is  opened,  the  compressed  air  rushes  into  the  hring 
chambers  and  away  speeds  the  most  deadly  projectile  man  s 
ingenuity  has  thus  far  devised. 

The  one  respect  in  which  the  dynamite  cruiser,  speed  ex- 
cepted is  inferior  to  the  torpedo-boat  destroyer  is  m  the  im- 
portant matter  of  aiming  the  guns.  These  ^emg  tmmovab  y 
fixed  in  the  vessel  cannot  be  trained  and  handled  like  other 
o-un.  they  cannot  be  laid  to  hit  the  target  by  moving  them  to 
The  right  or  left  or  up  or  down;  instead,  the  Vesuvius  herself 
must  be  mancsuvred  so  as  to  get  within  the  range.  She  thus 
becomes  the  gun  carriage,  her  helm  and  her  screws  being  the 
means  employed  by  her  for  the  accurate  laying  of  her  guns. 

Herein  lies  an  objection  to  the  dynamite  gun  as  it  is  em- 
placed  on  board  the  Vesuvius,  and  for  a  long  time  it  was 
thought  to  be  insuperable.  So  convinced  were  naval  meii  of 
the  impracticability  of  this  method  of  pointing  that  the  Navy 
Department  made  preparations  for  removing  all  the  pneumatic 
fittings  and  dynamite  guns  and  substituting  autornobile  torpedo 
appurtenances.  A  lack  of  funds  alone  prevented  the  carrying 
out  of  this  intention. 

The  ship  being  laid  fair  for  the  target,  the  range  of  the  dy- 
namite projectile  is  controlled  by  means  of  the  amount  o  com^ 
pressed  air  admitted  to  the  gun.  No  torpedo  of  the  Whitehead 
or  Howell  type  can  approach  this.  1000  yards  being  an  extreme 


410      DYNAMITE   CIUISER    I  \ />    HOLLAXD   BOAT. 

range  for  them,  and  for  effective  work  not  over  800  should  be 
attempted. 

For  getting  in  her  fine  work  the  best  distance  at  which  the 
Vesuvius  should  operate  is  about  a  mile  off,  and  to  land  her 
projectiles  on  shore  or  at  a  target  at  this  remote  distance 
would  require  an  air  pressure  of  about  800  pounds. 

A  gauge  fixes  the  amount  of  air  force  necessary  to  throw  the 
cartridge  a  certain  distance,  say  one-quarter,  one-half  or  a  full 
mile.  There  is  scarcely  any  sound  at  the  discharge,  and,  of 
course,  no  smoke,  so  that  shortly  after  the  projectile  leaves 
the  muzzle  it  is  visible  to  those  on  the  ship,  and  the  place  where 
it  strikes  can  plainly  be  seen.  The  firing  of  these  air  guns  is 
done  from  the  conning-tower  by  means  of  levers.  The  pro- 
jectile rises  swiftly  to  a  height  of  nearly  300  feet,  and  then 
travels  horizontally  as  though  following  a  straight  line  marked 
oiif  against  the  sky,  and  finally  dips  sharply  and  plunges  into 
the  target.  There  is  a  peculiar  spiral  safety  arrangement  on 
each  projectile  by  which  the  fuse  is  rendered  harmless  until  a 
flight  through  the  air  of  about  one-eighth  of  a  mile  is  accom- 
plished. Otherwise,  the  primers  might  explode  just  as  the 
projectile  left  the  tube,  doing  great  harm  to  the  vessel  itself. 


ATTACK  AGAINST  FORTS. 

The  tremendous  efficiency  of  shells  charged  with  large  quan- 
tities of  high  explosives  having  been  thus  demonstrated,  even 
the  most  bitter  opponents  of  the  Vesuvius  have  conceded  that 
wherever  one  of  her  shells  struck  destruction  would  surely 
follow.  Doubtless  many  Spanish  soldiers  within  a  large  radius 
of  where  the  projectiles  struck  in  the  Santiago  batteries  can 
attest  the  value  of  the  dynamite  gun  as  a  weapon  to  oppose  the 
fortifications.  Herein  lies  both  her  uniqueness  and  usefulness 
and  her  superiority  to  vessels  of  the  torpedo  type. 

The  Vesuvius  was  not  designed  to  attack  fortifications,  yet  it 
would  seem  as  though  for  such  a  role  she  is  admirably  adapted; 
better  than  for  the  role  of  ship  attack,  where  the  time  needed 
to  get  herself  in  position  for  firing  would  expose  her  to  a  hot 
rapid  fire  that  would  certainly  annihilate  her.      But  give  her 


DTNAMTTE  CRUISER  AND   HOLLAND  BOAT.      411 

time  and  a  fairly  dark  night  and  a  Spanish  fort  for  an  object 
and  no  shot  or  other  destructive  missile  thus  far  known  can 
work  such  havoc. 

Silently  can  she  take  her  stand,  and  by  means  of  range- 
finders  accurately  determine  her  position;  then,  without  more 
noise  than  a  big  popgun  would  make,  she  can  send  her  pro- 
jectiles gracefully  curving  through  the  air  mto  the  enemy  s 
camp.  In  short,  the  Vesuvius  has  a  distinctive  part  to  play  m 
this  war  we  are  now  waging  against  Spain.  It  is  purely  an 
ofifensive  part,  for  she  is  so  pitiably  weak  defensively,  being 
entirely  without  any  protection,  that  a  well-directed  rifle  bullet 
could  wreck  her. 

The  Vesuvius  could  never  enter  a  combat  unsupported,  but 
always  under  cover  of  some  large  vessel  able  to  draw  an  en- 
emy's fire  and  receive  the  punishment  that  would  be  otherwise 
directed  toward  her.  When  thus  safeguarded  the  Vesuvius 
serves  a  most  valuable  purpose,  and  the  work  cut  out  for  her 
will  greatly  conduce  to  shortening  the  bombardment  of  the 
fortifications  of  Cuba. 

THE    HOLLAND    BOAT. 

WHAT     t  OLLAND     CLAIMS     FOR     HIS     BOAT. 

We  want  to  demonstrate  the  power  and  value  of  a  submarine 
boat  of  this  size,  containing  the  highest  type  of  machinery  and 
warlike  implements  known.    As  to  its  success,  I  have  no  doubt. 

The  second  boat  I  built  carried  me  all  over  New  York  har- 
bor under  water.  I  could  steer  it  in  any  direction  and  raise  or 
lower  it  at  will.  It  was  a  crude  afifair  compared  with  what  we 
now  have  afloat.  Then  electric  storage  batteries  were  un- 
known. We  seek  speed  and  power.  Our  present  boat  will 
carry  three  Whitehead  torpedoes,  a  dozen  projectiles  for  the 
aerial  torpedo  thrower,  each  containing  lOO-pound  charges, 
with  a  range  over  the  water  of  1800  yards. 

With  this  boat  we  can  bombard  a  fort,  whose  guns  will  be 
helpless  to  return  fire,  for  the  boat  cannot  be  seen.  With  it  we 
can  enter  any  harbor,  regardless  of  torpedoes  or  obstructions. 


412      DYNAMITE  Clil  I^ER  AND  HOLLAND  BOAT. 

and  blow  away  every  impediment  in  its  path.  Havana  could 
be  reached  and  bombarded  in  spite  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  Mines 
could  be  exploded  ahead  of  us. 

The  first  and  greatest  desideratum  in  a  submarine  boat  is 
simplicity.  Each  man  has  one  thing  to  do  and  nothing  else. 
The  crew  will  consist  of  one  pilot,  one  "operator"  or  assistant 
pilot,  one  electrician,  one  engineer  and  two  torpedo  experts. 

Six  men  can  run  this  boat  under  any  fleet  of  warships,  in  any 
harbor,  attack  anything  on  land  or  sea,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
disappear  after  each  discharge  of  gujis  and  always  be  out  of 
reach  of  the  enemy's  fire.  There  is  much  less  danger  in  a  sub- 
marine boat  of  this  kind  than  on  any  surface  boat. 

If  we  make  a  success,  and  these  boats  become  an  established 
feature  of  marine  and  naval  service,  they  will  be  used  for  car- 
rying passengers  through  the  rough  sea  between  Dover  and 
Calais.  They  are  absolutely  safe  and  free  from  motion. 
Neither  fogs  nor  storms  can  have  any  effect  on  them.  There 
will  be  no  collisions,  for  they  sail  far  below  the  deepest  ocean 
liners.  The  passage  across  the  English  Channel  can  be  made 
along  the  bottom  of  the  sea  in  from  one  to  two  hours.  With 
compressed  air  in  steel  tubes,  such  as  we  use  in  this  boat,  the 
ventilation  will  be  perfect.  These  tubes  stand  a  pressure  of 
3000  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 

I  consider  that  there  is  nothing  problematic  about  this  sys- 
tem of  submarine  warfare.   Every  point  has  been  demonstrated. 

In  1883,  when  I  was  sailing  around  on  the  bottom  of  New 
York  harbor,  I  found  that  we  could  go  anywhere  with  perfect 
safety.  Of¥  Castle  Point,  Hoboken,  we  were  within  three  feet 
of  the  rocky  bottom  and  forty-seven  feet  below  the  surface. 
Yet  at  that  depth  the  engine  worked  perfectly,  giving  us  a 
speed  of  nine  miles  an  hour.  With  our  present  boat  I  expect 
to  go  sixteen  knots  an  hour  before  I  finish  with  her. 

The  boat  is  only  about  fifty  feet  long  by  ten  feet  three  inches 
in  diameter.  She  looks  like  a  long  locomotive  boiler,  either 
end  coming  to  a  point,  afloat  in  the  water.  The  only  entrance 
into  the  bowels  of  the  submarine  terror  is  through  this  little 
steel  conning-tower,  not  much  larger  than  an  average  man. 


MODEK\    l'li:iJ>    TAVTICS.  415 


CHAPTER    XLV. 
MODERN    FIELD    TACTICS. 

ARTILLERY     IN     THE     FIELD — CAVALRY     IN     MODERN     WARIAK    . 

What  astonishes  all  who  have  made  a  study  of  modern  tieki 
tactics  is  the  large  number  of  officers  among  the  killed  and 
wounded  at  Santiago.  In  the  first  official  list  ten  of  the  seven- 
teen killed  were  officers  and  the  percentage  among  the 
wounded  is  hardly  less. 

No  battle   in  any  part  of  the   world,   probably,  could  have 
furnished  a  better  test  of  the  new  tactics,  made  necessary  by 
the  improvement  in  firearms.     There  were  the  rough  ground 
and  the  long-range   magazine  rifles,  and  there  also  were  the 
trained  soldiers.     One  of  the  main  objects  of  these  tactics— 
or  "drill  regulations."  as  they  are  called,  except  when  they  are 
applied  on  the  battlefield— is  to  preserve  the  officers  uninjured 
as  long  as  possible.     More  reliance  is  now  placed  on  the  in- 
telligence  of  the  privates,  and   particularly  of  the   non-com- 
missioned officers,  than  in  the  old  days  of  shoulder-to-shoulder 
formation.     Conduct   that   would  have   fastened   the   name   of 
"coward"  upon  an  ofticer  in  the  Civil  War  is.  in  a  sense,  made 
compulsory  today;  that  is,  while  he  is  still  to  inspire  his  men 
by  example  when  occasion  demands,  he  is  for  the  most  pare 
to  maintain  a  fixed  position  with  relation  to  his  subordinates, 
and  is  to  keep  behind  shelter  if  he  can.     Thus  all  movements 
can  be   intelligently   directed— a   knowledge   of   which    fact   is 
more  encouraging  to  the  men  than  the  physical  presence  of 
the  officer  at  their  elbows.     The   non-commissioned   officers 
have  immediate  charge  of  the  men.  and  opportunities  are  open 
to  them  such  as  never  were  dreamed  of  in  the  old  days.     An 
eminent  English  writer  said,  at  the  time  the  new  regulations 
were  adopted  in  his  armv.  that  in  actual  warfare,  after  the  men^ 


416  MODERN    FIELD    TACTICS. 

the  non-commissioned  officers  would  be  most  exposed,  the 
lieutenants  next,  the  captains  next,  and  so  on;  which  is  as  it 
should  be. 

To  illustrate  the  idea  of  the  present  battle  formation,  take 
one  company  alone.  The  principle  is  the  same  for  the  bat- 
talion, regiment,  etc.  In  each  company  there  are  four  "sec- 
tions," each  under  the  immediate  command  of  a  sergeant.  The 
sections  are  divided  into  squads  which  are  under  the  immediate 
command  of  corporals.  At  the  beginning  of  the  formation, 
for  the  offensive,  one  of  these  sections  is  designated  as  the 
reserve,  another  as  the  support  and  two  as  the  firing  line,  or  in 
any  other  proportion  as  may  seem  best.  The  first  lieutenant 
commands  the  reserve,  the  second  the  firing  line  and  the  cap- 
tain's post  is  near  the  support,  with  a  bugler  beside  him  to 
give  signals,  also  the  first  sergeant  and  any  who  may  be  des- 
ignated to  carry  messages.  If  he  quits  that  post  for  a  moment 
he  leaves  word  where  he  can  be  found. 

A  few  scouts  are  sent  forward  first.  After  they  have  gone 
150  feet  the  firing  line  advances,  the  sections  gradually  separ- 
ating and  widening  the  intervals  between  them  till  they  sub- 
divide into  squads  and  the  squads  in  turn  separate  into  skir- 
mishers, who  are  about  six  feet  apart  when  on  the  firing  line 
proper.  The  support  at  the  outset  is  about  150  yards  behind 
the  first  line,  ready  to  deploy  and  ad\^nce  to  the  skirmishers, 
and  the  reserve  keeps  about  100  yards  in  the  rear  of  the  sup- 
port, ready  for  flank  attacks  or  to  reinforce  the  first  line. 
Every  man  is  taught  to  take  advantage  of  rocks,  bushes  and 
the  like  for  cover.  One  object  is  to  get  as  near  as  possible 
without  being  discovered,  then  to  locate  the  enemy's  fire  and 
to  deceive  him  as  to  the  strength  of  the  attacking  party.  The 
wide  intervals  save  the  men  from  being  mowed  down  by  the 
enemy. 

The  firing  begins  at  an  order  from  the  captain.  The  skir- 
mishers halt  wlien  they  fire.  Gradually  now,  as  they  advance, 
they  close  in  toward  the  center  to  make  room  for  the  support 
on  the  flanks.  The  support  meanwhile  draws  nearer  till  it  joins 
the  fir.st  line.  Then  there  is  a  rush  forward.  The  lieutenant. 
giving  the  instructions  while  the  men  are  lying  down  or  are 


MODEKX    FIELD    TACTICS.  417 

behind  cover,  commands:  "Advance  by  nishes;  third  section, 
fire  two  (or  three)  volleys;  second  section,  forward!"  The 
sergeant  of  the  third  section  gives  the  commands  for  the  vol- 
leys. As  soon  as  the  first  is  fired  and  under  partial  cover  of  its 
smoke  the  chief  of  the  second  section  orders  his  men  forward 
at  double  time.  When  they  have  gone  about  fifteen  yards,  or 
to  cover  if  there  is  any,  he  causes  them  to  lie  down  and  fire 
two  or  three  volleys.  On  the  first  volley  the  third  section 
rushes  forward  fifteen  feet  in  advance  of  the  line  of  the  second 
section  and  fires.  The  second  section  advances  as  before,  and 
so  it  is  continued.  When  all  the  men  are  on  the  line,  each 
lieutenant  takes  position  behind  his  own  platoon,  and  the  cap- 
tain is  in  the  rear  of  the  center.  Having  chosen  a  suitable  po- 
sition from  which  to  make  the  assault,  the  captain  commands: 
"Rapid  fire!"  The  lieutenints  thereupon  order  the  men  to  fix 
bayonets  and  to  lay  down  the  sights  of  their  pieces,  after  which 
they  give  the  commands  for  the  firing.  To  charge,  the  cap- 
tain signals  to  cease  firing,  and  commands:  "To  the  charge, 
march!"  The  men  rise  and  advance  in  double  time.  When 
they  are  about  thirty  yards  from  the  enemy,  he  commands: 
"Charge!" 

Our  tactics  differ  from  those  of  the  English  army  in  only 
one  important  particular.  With  the  former,  when  it  is  neces- 
sary to  advance  support  and  reserve  and  prepare  for  the 
charge  the  first  line  falls  back  and  the  others  deployed  pass  to 
the  front  through  the  intervals  in  the  retiring  first  line.  The 
theory  there  is  that  the  first  line  may  be  too  exhausted  to  go 
on  to  the  charge.  With  our  army  the  first  line  remains  at  the 
front,  the  reserve  joining  it  in  the  intervals  and  on  the  flanks. 

.\RTILLERY     IN     THE     FIELD. 

The  marvelous  rapidity  with  which  an  enemy  can  be  anni- 
hilated by  modern  field  artillery  when  properly  handled  is  be- 
ing illustrated  at  Port  Tampa  every  morning.  The  evolutions 
and  maneuvers  are  most  interesting,  for  they  show  how  per- 
fectly helpless  a  massed  force  would  be  within  two  or  three 


41S  MODERN    FIEIJ)    TACTICS. 

minutes  after  an  artillery  command  caught  sight  of  them  or 
even  suspected  their  whereabouts. 

There  are  ten  batteries  of  light  artillery  and  a  siege  train  of 
heavy  guns  with  the  army  there.  Their  drills  are  held  very 
early  in  the  morning — too  early,  in  fact,  for  the  best  photo- 
graphic results — for  the  days  become  so  terribly  hot  after  the 
sun  gets  well  up  that  it  would  be  sheer  cruelty  to  work  either 
horses  or  men  unless  absolutely  necessary. 

At  7.30  the  pealing  notes  of  an  artillery  trumpet  stirred  the 
camp  into  bustling  activity.  Cannoneers  darted  out  of  their 
tents  and  rushed  to  the  pieces  and  caissons.  Horses,  appar- 
ently awaiting  the  call,  ready  harnessed,  trotted  around  to- 
ward their  places  as  well  as  the  trained  horses  of  a  fire  depart- 
ment in  a  city  could  do  it  and  a  great  deal  better  than  many  of 
them  do.  They  were  quickly  hooked  up,  the  limbers  were 
brought  to  place  and  the  trail-piece  of  the  field  rifle  coupled 
on.  Meantime  the  captain  had  mounted  his  horse,  held  by  a 
mounted  orderly,  and  had  ridden  to  the  front  of  his  battery. 
The  orderly  snatched  the  little  red  flag,  or  guidon,  from  its 
place  in  front  of  the  captain's  quarters,  and,  affixing  the  lower 
end  of  its  staff  in  a  thimble  on  his  stirrup,  darted  after  his 
commander.  Lieutenant  Conklin  looked  after  some  of  the 
minor  details  in  a  few  seconds,  and  assigned  me  to  a  comfort- 
able seat  on  one  of  the  caissons.  Captain  Grimes  raised  his 
gauntlet,  and  the  trumpet  sounded,  "Prepare  to  mount."  The 
cannoneers  sprang  in  between  the  wheels  of  the  gun  carriages, 
limbers  and  caissons,  one  on  the  right,  one  on  the  left  ami  the 
third  on  the  right  of  the  rear.  The  two  first  in  positit)n 
j.rasped  hands,  and  wlien  the  call  of  "mount"  was  sounded 
sprang  nimbly  into  their  seats  on  the  broad  lid  of  the  ammu- 
nition l)o\  in  front  of  me.  In  a  second  the  entire  battery,  with 
its  hundred  or  more  horses  and  scores  of  brightly-uniformed 
men,  who  seemed  as  if  they  must  get  in  each  other's  way,  but 
never  did.  was  on  the  march,  taking  u]i  its  way  toward  a  broad, 
level  plat  about  a  mile  fr. mi  the  c;ini;),  and  just  opposite  the 
inlet,  that  separates  the  camping  ground  from  Port  Tampa 
piers.  The  brake  on  the  caisson  T  rode  was  not  in  order,  and 
the  commander  called  a  halt  to  adjust  it.     While  it  was  l)eing 


MODERX    FIELD    TACTICS.  419 

repaired  the  other  pieces  of  the  battery  passed  us.  We  got  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  behind,  and  that  wasn't  where  we  belonged. 
When  ready  to  move  again  I  was  told  that  I  would  get  a  little 
taste  of  high  life.  I  got  it.  Sometimes  I  was  a  foot  high  and 
sometimes  it  seemed  several  yards.  It  might  be  stated  that  the 
country  down  here  is  overrun  with  scrub  palmetto.  The  plant, 
which  is  a  dwarfed  tree,  with  limbs  about  as  large  as  a  man's 
arms,  creeps  all  over  the  ground,  and  its  limbs  are  completely 
hidden  by  its  spreading,  fanlike  leaves.  They  may  have  been 
invisible  to  sight,  but  the  wheels  of  that  caisson  found  every- 
one of  them.  I  thought  of  a  number  of  bright  things  to  tell 
about  that  ride  while  I  was  up.  but  when  I  came  down  they 
were  all  jolted  out  of  my  mind.  It  was  fun  for  the  cannoneers. 
They  hadn't  had  a  tenderfoot  out  for  a  ride  in  a  long  time,  but 
they  were  too  well  disciplined  to  say  anything  about  it.  If  I 
had  only  known  that  there  were  forty-eight  loaded  shrapnel 
shell  underneath  the  lid  I  was  bumping,  and  their  non-ex- 
posion  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  well  packed,  I  might 
•have  had  a  far  pleasanter  time  while  I  was  up.  but  I  would 
have  tried  to  alight  a  little  easier.  A  caisson  blew  up  in  Chi- 
cago a  few  years  ago  while  crossing  a  railroad  track,  and 
some  of  the  fragments  of  the  men  haven't  come  down  yet. 

Amid  a  wild  whirl  of  sand  and  dust  the  big  horses  dropped 
into  a  walk,  when  they  reached  their  place,  so  suddenly  that 
I  almost  parted  company  with  my  caisson.  It  was  smoother 
riding  after  that,  and  in  reply  to  the  captain's  query  as  to  how 
I  enjoyed  the  ride  I  said  it  was  fun.     I  believe  he  thinks  I  lied. 

We  trotted  along  through  the  sand  for  half  a  mile,  and  I 
was  really  enjoying  it.  for  I  didn't  know  anything  about  those 
shrapnel  under  my  lid.  Suddenly  the  captain  signalled  an 
order  to  his  trumpeters,  and  they  sounded,  "Right  into  line!" 

The  black-muzzled  steel  rifles  dropped  from  the  limbers  in 
a  second.  The  caissons  and  limbers  whipped  up  and  passed 
through  the  wheeling  line  of  guns  until  their  proper  positions 
in  the  rear  were  reached. 

"Load!"  rang  out  the  captain's  clear  voice,  and  the  gunners 
swarmed  about  their  pieces  like  bees.  The  breech-bolts  were 
drawn,  the  cartridges  were  passed  up,  and  in  a  jifify  the  gunner 


420  MODERN    FIELD    TACTICS. 

at  each  piece  had  his  eye  ranging  along  the  sights,  awaiting 
further  orders. 

"Take  that  most  prominent  ship — the  one  with  the  smoke; 
distance  3500  yards!"  cried  Captain  Grimes,  and  before  his 
voice  had  died  away  the  guns  were  frowning  at  the  peaceable 
transports  a  mile  and  one-quarter  across  the  bay  and  fully  two 
miles  from  the  battery. 

"Where  will  you  strike  her?"  he  asked  of  the  gunner  at  piece 
No.  I. 

"A  little  abaft  'midship,  sir,"  replied  the  man. 

"A  very  good  place,"  said  Captain  Grimes.  "Disable  her 
machinery  and  she  is  helpless." 

No.  2  had  his  eye  on  the  quarterdeck,  or  where  the  quarter- 
deck would  have  been  if  the  vessel  had  been  a  man-of-war. 
No.  3  had  another  vital  part  of  the  ship  spotted,  and  so  had 
No.  4. 

I  had  just  ranged  my  camera  in  position  to  catch  the  firing 
when  the  order  rang  out  to  fire  by  piece. 

"No.  I,  fire!" 

There  are  other  things  besides  buzz-saws  that  are  not  good 
to  become  too  closely  acquainted  with,  and  a  field  rifle  is  one 
of  them.  I  moved  further  away,  but  am  glad  I  had  the  experi- 
ence, for  I  am  sure  I  have  made  a  photograph  of  artillery  fir- 
ing at  as  close  a  point  to  the  gun  as  any  artist  will  care  to 
stand  for  some  time.  In  rotation,  one  after  the  other,  at 
scarcely  appreciable  intervals,  the  big  guns  belched  forth  their 
great  volumes  of  smoke  with  a  spiteful  roar.  Firing  by  battery 
is  noisier  and  more  exciting,  but  there  is  such  a  cloud  of  smoke 
that  photographing  is  out  of  the  question. 

After  a  few  minutes  of  this  hot  work  I  witnessed  some  of  the 
lightning-like  maneuverings  that  are  a  part  of  the  modern 
artilleryman's  daily  experience.  A  battery  was  seen  coming 
through  the  woods,  about  a  mile  away,  toward  the  drill 
ground. 

"Take  that  battery  over  toward  the  woods;  distance  2000 
yards.     Load — shrapnel !" 

The  battery  had  to  be  wheeled  entirely  around.  Every 
caisson  and  every  limber  had  to  dash  to   its   new  position. 


MODERX    FIELD    TACTICS.  421 

There  was  a  kaleidoscopic  mix-up  of  men,  liorses  and  cannon, 
until  it  seemed  to  me  they  would  never  be  untangled.  But 
every  horse  and  every  man  knew  just  what  to  do  and  how  and 
when  to  do  it.  I  timed  the  maneuver,  and  in  forty-six  seconds 
after  the  new  command  had  been  given  the  first  shower  of 
shrapnel  went  hurling  among  that  battery,  over  a  mile  away. 
Of  course,  blank  ammunition  was  used,  for  if  the  real  thing 
had  been  substituted  there  would  be  one  battery  less  in  Uncle 
Sam's  service.  Detachments  of  cavalry  were  skirmishing 
through  the  woods.  Of  course,  the  battery  was  an  imaginary 
target  for  them,  in  turn,  for  the  whole  great  drill  ground  is  a 
chess  board,  upon  which  each  troop  or  battery  commander 
makes  his  moves.  They  are  not  made  for  fun,  but  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  men,  and  every  move  has  a  well-defined  mean- 
ing- 

Every  body  of  troops  that  showed  up  anywhere  withm  two 

miles  was  shelled,  every  transport  at  the  Port  Tampa  piers 
became  a  target  in  turn,  and  if  anything  but  blank  ammunition 
had  been  used  there  would  have  been  a  frightful  slaughter. 

The  following  morning  I  went  into  the  field  with  Capt.  S. 
W.  Taylor  and  his  battery  of  the  Fourth  Artillery.     I  lifted  up 
the  lid  of  the  caisson  to  which  I  was  assigned  just  to  assure 
myself  that  everything  was  all  right.     I  found  matters  entirely 
satisfactory,  for  the  caisson  had  its  full  complement  of  shrap- 
nel, as  well  as  about  a  score  of  steel  shells,  all  of  which  were 
loaded.     I  had  company,  however,  and  if  I  had  realized  my 
worst  fears  I  would  have  had  two  companions  going  up.      I 
got  another  taste  of  the  palmetto-root  roads,  but  came  through 
Ts  all  right.     The  maneuvers  and   drills  through  which   Cap- 
tain  Taylor  put  his   battery   were   very   similar   to   those   de- 
scribed already,  and  were  certainly  very  interesting.     He  se- 
lected first  a  field  overgrown  with  tall  pampas  grass,   which 
almost  concealed  the  battery.     A  force  of  infantry  half  a  mile 
away  would  never  have  seen  it  or  known  of  its  location  until 
half  of  their  force  had  been  killed.     Firing  exercises  were  gone 
through  with,  and  an  hour  and  one-half  of  the  liveliest  kind  of 
drill  afforded  ample  opportunity  for  photographs. 

To  one  who  sees  only  the  picturesque  side  of  these  artillery 


422  MODERN    FIELD    TACTICS. 

maneuvers  they  savor  much  of  a  sham  battle;  to  one  who 
looks  deeper  into  the  subject  their  true  significance  is  revealed. 
The  gunners,  although  they  use  only  blank  cartridges,  are 
trained  to  sight  the  piece  as  carefully  as  if  shell  were  to  be 
fired  and  to  handle  the  guns  with  the  same  degree  of  precision 
and  care  as  if  in  actual  battle.  The  result  of  this  training  has 
been  shown  in  field  target  practice  at  some  of  the  Western 
posts  wit^hin  the  year. 

Lieut.  C.  G.  Treat,  of  the  Fifth  Artillery,  who  is  adjutant 
at  the  artillery  sub-post  at  Fort  Riley,  devised  some  large  tar- 
gets of  canvas,  so  mounted  upon  trucks  or  wheels  that  they 
can  be  moved  forward  or  backward,  or  to  the  right  or  left,  fol- 
lowing the  movements  of  a  body  of  troops  in  the  field.  In 
recent  target  practice  these  canvas  targets  were  used  as  sup- 
port for  silhouette  figures  representing  cavalrymen,  infantry- 
men or  a  portion  of  a  battery  of  artillery,  as  might  be  deemed 
necessary.  Distant  2000  to  4500  yards  from  the  battery  and 
out  of  sight  in  hollows  between  knolls,  at  distances  unknown 
to  the  gunners,  these  targets  were  literally  torn  to  pieces.  It 
was  shown  in  one  test,  after  three  shrapnel  had  been  fired  to 
ascertain  the  range,  that  an  entire  battery  of  artillery  would 
have  been  wiped  out  of  existence  in  less  than  four  minutes 
had  the  targets  been  animate  instead  of  inanimate. 

In  other  tests  silhouette  targets,  each  representing  an  in- 
fantryman, were  set  up  in  fours,  in  echelon,  representing  an 
entire  company  of  106  men  and  officers.  In  less  tnan  six  min- 
utes every  figure  had  been  mortally  hit,  and  some  of  them  as 
many  as  seven  times,  shrapnel  being  used  and  the  distance  and 
exact  location  nf  the  targets  being  unknown. 

I  have  talked  with  a  number  of  military  men  during  the  past 
week  who  are  familiar  with  the  methods  of  fighting  that  pre- 
vail in  the  Spanish  army.  They  fight  in  solid  formation,  it  is 
said,  and  know  nothing  about  skirmish  fighting  or  extended 
order.  They  have  little  or  no  field  artillery  in  Cuba.  If  their 
army  no  matter  how  strong  it  may  be  numerically,  ever  comes 
within  range  of  those  terrible  field  rifles  and  their  death-deal- 
ing shrapnel  Commander  Bob  Evans's  prophecy  will  be 
quickly  verified.     As  matters  now  stand  it  will  not  he  at  all 


ROYAL  PALMS,  BOTANICAL  GARDENS. 


'     MODERX    FIELD    TACTICS.  425 

unlikely  thai  the  dons  will  have  to  take  a  little  of  this  sort  of 
gruel  in  the  very  near  future,  for  Uncle  Sam  certainly  isn't 
gathering  his  army  here  for  a  holiday. 


CAVALRY      IN     MODERN     WARFARE. 

A  good  man  on  a  good  horse  is  the  superior  as  an  attacking 
force  of  three  good  men  on  the  ground.     This  is  a  matter  ot 
common  knowledge  in  the   European  capitals  wherein   mobs 
are  dispersed  by  cavalry  using  the  flat  of  the  saber  only  more 
quickly  than  they  are  scattered  by  the  bullets  of  militia  m 
\merica.     There  is  something  in  the  speed,  weight  and  size 
of  a  charging  man  and  horse  that  shakes  the  nerve  of  the  most 
stout-hearted  pedestrian.     The  uncontrollable  instinct  of  the 
footman  is  to  get  out  of  the  way.    A  cavalryman  learns  to  love 
his  horse  with  a  love  surpassing  that  of  woman.     He  learns  to 
depend  upon  him.     He  absorbs  confidence  from  every  swell 
of  the  giant  muscles  between  his  knees.     The  man  and  the 
beast  conjoined  furnish  a  mutual   support  that   is  admirable, 
and  in  battle  of  incalculable  value.      Dismounted  cavalry  are 
the  most  difficult  of  troops  to  dislodge,  for  the  reason  that  the 
riders,  deprived  of  their  horses,  do  not  know  when  or  how  to 

run.  u     u       V, 

Military  experts  believe  that  the  invasion  of  «^uba  by  the 
American  army  will  furnish  exceptional  opportunities  for  the 
use  of  cavalry.    It  is.  for  the  most  part,  a  good  horse  country, 
of  wide  fields  and  level  spaces.     It  is  believed,  too,  that  this 
picturesque  arm  of  the  service  will  demonstrate  that  its  use- 
fulness is  not  ended  by  modern  arms  and  projectiles,  though 
many  theorists  incline  to  the  opinion  that  the  days  of  cavalry 
as  cavalry  were  ended  in  the  times  of  Gravelotte  and  Sedan. 
The  celebrated  and  fruitless  charge  of  the  French  cuirassiers, 
where  men  and  steeds  went  down  in  heaps  and  the  watching 
William  said,  "It  is  magnificent,  but  it  is  not  war,"  sticks  in 
their    memories.     That    charge    was    Balaklava    over  again. 
Somebody  blundered.    The  general  efficiency  of  cavalry  under 
proper  conditions  is  not  discredited  by  it,  nor  is  the  cefltunes- 
old  record  of  a  remarkably  x^aluable  arm  to  be  stained  by  an 


426  MODERX    I'll:  LI)    TACriCS. 

individual  failure.  Men  who  remember  what  the  cavalry  was 
and  what  the  cavalry  did  in  the  war  between  the  States  de- 
mand something  more  than  the  crumpling  of  one  column  be- 
fore they  surrender  the  beliefs  of  years. 

The  Napoleonic  maxim  that  cavalry  cannot  charge  un- 
shaken infantry  was  due  to  Napoleon's  experience  with  run- 
down forces.  His  mounted  men  were  badly  drilled  and  his 
horseflesh  was  poor.  The  great  Frederick  understood  the 
high  value  of  this  branch,  and  his  campaigns  give  many  in- 
stances of  the  value  of  mounted  troops  in  almost  all  kinds  of 
warfare.  The  records  of  all  great  wars  bristle  with  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  troopers.  Even  in  the  Franco-Prussian  struggle 
the  actual  damage  wrought  by  the  Uhlans  was  far  out  of  pro- 
portion with  their  numbers,  and  the  value  of  the  fear  they 
produced  was  immeasurable.  At  Salamanca  Le  Marchand's 
British  "heavies"  were  sent  over  bad  ground  against  the  stead- 
iest of  French  infantry.  ]Men  and  horses  fell  in  swaths  twenty 
yards  from  the  line.  The  rear  line  did  steeple-chase  jumping 
over  piled  corpses  to  get  to  the  front.  Le  Alarchand  was  in- 
stantly killed  and  many  of  his  officers,  but  the  infantry  was 
broken  and  the  position  carried.  The  Peninsula  campaigns 
furnish  repeated  proofs  of  the  fact  that  infantry  will  not  stand 
against  well-handled  cavalry.  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  one 
of  the  greatest  of  modern  warriors,  was  a  steady  believer  in  the 
efificacy  of  cavalry,  and  so,  too,  was  Von  Wrangel. 

The  opponents  of  the  trooper  arm  and  prophets  of  its  utter 
efifacement  are  used  to  instancing  the  failure  of  the  brilliant 
Austrian  cavalry  at  Sadowa  when  sent  against  breech-loaders. 
These  were  troopers  seasoned  by  long  service  and  so  drilled 
that  thirty  squadrons  of  them  were  maneuvered  in  mass  with 
the  ease  and  certainty  of  one.  They  were,  however,  led  over 
ground  that  sloped  up  three  degrees.  It  was  sodden  with 
rain.  The  horses  were  so  wearied  that  many  of  them  fell  from 
exhaustion  when  the  charge  began.  The  infantrymen  who 
received  them  had  been  selected  by  five  hours  of  savage  and 
continous  fighting.  All  faint  hearts  had  gone  to  the  rear.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  there  was  not  a  Prussian  on  the  west  ridge 
of  Chnhnn  that  day  who  did  not  wish  to  be  there.     Even  un- 


MODEh'X    FIELD     TACriCS.  427 

der  these  conditions  the  charge  came  very  close  to  success, 
though  all  Europe  was  shouting  that  cavalrj^  was  useless 
against  breech-loading  fire. 

The  French  got  their  chassepots  in  1868  and  1869.  No  Ger- 
man officer  believed  that  his  troop  would  be  of  any  good 
against  them.  Yet  at  Vionville  the  first  line  of  the  German 
cavalry  halted  under  heavy  fire  on  the  plateau,  took  intervals 
In'  passaging,  went  of¥  the  plateau  at  a  walk  and  wheeled  up 
to  the  front  again  as  steadily  as  if  on  dress  parade.  This,  too, 
was  magnificent,  and  it  was  war.  It  was  done  to  encourage 
the  young  troops,  cost  only  seventy  men  and  horses,  though 
the  chassepots  were  Ijarking  in  thousands,  and  it  was  worth 
what  it  cost.  Again  at  v'ionville  Bredow's  six  squadrons  went 
over  two  lines  of  "unshaken"  infantry  as  if  they  were  paper. 
In  another  charge  the  troopers  went  over  the  French  cannon, 
losing  only  fifty  men.  They  came  so  fast  that  the  artillerymen 
found  it  impossible  to  depress  their  pieces  with  sufficient 
rapidity  and  accuracy.  In  this  battle  thirty-six  squadrons  of 
German  horse  proved  that  the  French  line  of  foot  lacked  the 
strength  of  cobwebs,  yet  this  same  French  infantry  was  so 
good  that  two  days  later  it  took  an  entire  division  of  the  Ger- 
man footment  three  hours  to  go  through  them,  at  a  cost  of 
4000  lives,  or  ,^0  per  cent,  of  the  attacking  force. 

There  will  never  be  any  finer  or  steadier  or  more  "un- 
shaken" infantry  than  these  French.  The}^  were  privates  and 
non-commissioned  officers  who,  to  quote  Von  Moltke,  "sought 
to  redeem  with  their  life-blood  the  errors  for  which  they  were 
in  nowise  responsible."  The  Franco-Prussian  war  was  thick 
with  similar  instances,  which  are  carefully  eschewed  in  the 
writings  of  anti-cavalry  doctrinaires. 

In  the  old  days  troops  were  safe  when  held  in  reserve  500 
yards  back  of  the  fighting  line.  Now  for  2500  yards  behind 
this  line  the  ground  is  torn  with  bullets.  Consequently  troops 
are  held  3000  yards  back,  and  even  at  this  distance  there  will 
be  occasional  casualties.  To  take  part  in  an  engagement  the 
reserve  force  must  be  moved  entirely  through  this  wide  and 
dangerous  zone.  Infantry  cannot  do  it  in  less  than  twenty-five 
minutes,  and  another  ten  minutes  will  be  used  in  getting  them 


428  MODERN    FIELD    TACTIC H. 

into  line.  Cavalry  can  cover  the  distance  in  six  minutes.  The 
rapidity  with  which  their  range  alters  makes  them  a  difficult 
target,  and  the  moral  effect  of  their  thundering  and  swift  ad- 
vance is  great.  It  is  estimated  that  the  cavalry  loss  in  a  charge 
should  not  exceed  one-third  of  the  infantry  loss.  American 
military  men  of  the  more  advanced  kind  expect  service  of  the 
highest  value  in  heavy  engagements  from  the  splendidly-com- 
posed and  equipped  volunteer  cavalry  that  has  gone  to  the 
front.  Of  their  worth  in  scouting,  reconnoissance- and  as 
media  of  communication  there  can  be  no  question. 


ELECTRICITY  0\  A  BATTLESHIP. 


429 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 
ELECTRICITY    ON    A    BATTLESHIP. 

THE  WONDERFUL  POWER  DOES  EVERYTHING  BUT  MOVE  THK 
SHIP— IT  LOADS  AND  FIRES  THE  GUNS.  WORKS  THE  SIGNALS. 
LIGHTS   THE   SHIP   AND   DOES  A  THOUSAND   OTHER   TASKS. 

Nowhere  are  the  wonderful  developments  in  electrical 
science  and  appliances  in  their  varied  phases  so  thorough])- 
yet  concisely  demonstrated  within  the  same  limited  space  as 
in  the  mechanical  workings  of  a  modern  naval  vessel.  W.thm 
the  past  decade  the  multitude  of  devices  pertaining  to  a  ship  s 
armament  and  equipment,  which  formerly  derived  their  motive 
force  from  either  steam  or  hand-power,  have  been  placed  so 
thoroughlv  under  the  control  of  electricity  that  at  the  present 
day  its  importance  as  a  factor  in  naval  maneuvering  is  second 
only  to  the  actual  propulsive  power  of  the  vessel. 

It  would  be   difficult  to  conceive   of  a   situation   where  the 
installation  cf  an  electric  plant  involves  so  many  intricacies  m 
general  construction  and  wiring,  and  where  its  ^Tinous  work- 
ing parts  are  subjected  to  so  severe  a  test  in  actual,  every- 
day service  as  on  board  a  modern  warship.     Whether  on  the 
wind-swept  bridge  or  down   in  the  sweltering  furnace-room. 
contentions   of  equal   gravity  are   constantly   asserting   them- 
selves.     On   deck  there   is  the   changeableness   and  often   m 
clemency  of  the  weather,  combined  with  the  frequent  breaking 
of  seas  over  the  vessel  to  guard  against,  while  in  the  f^re  and 
engine  rooms  the  extreme  heat  from  furnaces  and  boilers,  ir 
addition  to  the  moisture  and  steam  from  sweating  pipes  and 
escape  valves,  render  the  protection  of  electric  wires  an  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  problem.     It  is.  therefore,  essential  that  the 
work  of  installation  should  be  most  thoroughly  accomplished. 


430  ELECTRICITY  0\  A  BATTLESHIP. 

and  only  the  best  material  employed  in  order  to  insure  effectual 
results  and  reasonable  durability. 

Specifications  covering  the  work  in  the  electrical  equip- 
ment of  United  States  war  vessels  are  exceedingly  complete, 
embracing  almost  every  conceivable  point  that  could  be  raised. 
The  central  station  and  dynamo  rooms  are  located  below  the 
water  line  for  protection  against  damage  from  the  enemy's  fire. 

The  construction  of  the  engines  is  much  heavier  than  was 
formerly  the  case,  both  owing  to  the  increased  volume  of 
power  required  to  be  generated  by  them,  and  to  the  former 
number  of  breakages  of  those  in  use,  which  indicated  that 
strength  had  been  unduly  sacrificed  in  order  to  decrease 
weight. 

The  system  of  connections  between  the  dynamos  and 
switchboards,  as  employed  on  modern  war  vessels,  has  grad- 
ually been  growing  more  complex  from  year  to  year,  until  to- 
day they  retain  but  a  slight  similarity  to  those  used  in  connec- 
tion with  ordinary  electrical  plants.  The  design  of  the  switch- 
board itself  is  very  simple.  On  each  side  of  the  center  of  the 
board  there  is  a  set  of  vertical  bars,  each  set  containing  as 
many  bars  as  there  are  dynamos  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected. The  electric  current  from  the  dynamos  is  controlled 
by  means  of  switches  at  the  bottom  of  the  board,  while  hori- 
zontally across  its  surface  are  arranged  the  sub-switches  gov- 
erning the  wires  leading  throughout  the  ship. 

There  are  two  divisions  in  the  wiring  of  a  vessel,  designated, 
respectively,  as  "lighting"  and  "tnotor"  circuits.  The  light- 
ing circuits  are  again  separated  into  six  divisions,  according 
to  the  service  required,  viz.,  "continual,"  "battle,"  "sea,"  "day" 
and  "special"  services. 

While  the  divisions  are  sonieulKit  numerous,  a  numl>er  of 
them  are  but  sub-mains,  branching  from  the  trunk  lines,  which 
start  from  the  switchboard  in  the  dynamo  room.  Each  sub- 
division is  controlled  by  a  double  pole  switch,  of  ample  ca- 
pacity, placed  in  a  convenient  location.  For  instance,  the 
lights  for  day  ser\icc  are  on  a  sub-main  branching  ofT  from 
the  mains  for  general  service.  Tlie  battle  service  mains  have 
their  own  feeder,  and  start  at  the  switchboard,   carrying  cur- 


ELECTRICITY  oy  A   BATTLESHIP.  431 

rents  to  the  lamps  lighting  the  magazines,  handling  rooms, 
ammunition  hoists,  central  station,  conning  tower  and  battle 
lanterns  at  the  guns  when  in  action.  The  signal  circuit  leads 
directly  from  the  switchboard,  for  the  lighting  of  the  binna- 
cles, running  lights,  truck  lights.  Ardois  signal  hoist  and  vari- 
ous others  for  signal  purposes.  The  searchlights  have  their 
own  independent  leads,  and  are  not  connected  to  any  other 
circuit. 

Of  late  years  the  number  of  circuits  at  the  switchboard  has 
been  materially  decreased  by  the  use  of  "feeders."  These  are 
heavy  conductors  leading  from  the  dynamo  room  to  the  gen- 
eral location  to  be  lighted,  where  they  are  divided  into  mains 
connecting  with  the  lights.  The  number  of  feeders  leading 
from  the  switchboard  is  determined  by  local  conditions.  The 
circuits  are  divided  up  into  decks,  starboard  and  port  or  fore 
and  aft.  and  sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  use  both  combina- 
tions to  keep  within  the  limits  allowed  or  fixed  by  the  con- 
struction of  the  ship. 

To  keep  the  service  intact,  whenever  possible  the  feeders 
are  run  below  the  protective  deck,  and  where  occasionally 
space  does  not  permit  this  to  be  done,  then  as  far  inboard  as 
practicable.  The  vertical  risers  are  protected  by  such  means 
as  can  be  procured,  but  in  no  case  are  wires  left  entirely 
exposed,  fine  moldings  being  employed  in  shielding  them  when 
no  other  method  is  afforded.  The  wiring  of  a  ship  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly delicate  piece  of  workmanship,  and  even  when  the 
utmost  care  and  skill  has  been  exercised,  a  high  insulation  of 
the  dynamo  circuits  becomes  a  necessity,  for  with  the  vast 
number  of  connections,  each  of  which  is  burdened  with  a 
responsibility  of  greater  or  less  moment,  a  cross  between  two 
wires  involves  m.any  possibilities  of  trouble. 

Having  obtained  an  insight  into  the  fundamental  principles 
of  electrical  distributions  and  the  conditions  governing  the 
wiring  of  a  vessel,  let  us  next  glance  at  the  various  appliances 
and  their  usages  on  shipboard.  The  most  modern  war  vessels 
are  lighted  throughout  with  arc  and  incandescent  lights,  are 
fitted  with  electric  searchlights,  battle  lanterns  and  signaling 
apparatus,  have  elaborate  systems  of  internal  electrical   com- 


432  ELEVTKIVITY  (>\  A   BATTLESIUP. 

munications  embracing  the  telegraph,  telephone,  various  kinds 
of  indicators  and  alarms,  and  operate  all  their  guns,  turrets, 
ammunition  hoists,  capstans,  steering  gear  and  some  of  their 
launches  by  electric  motors. 

Probably  the  most  highly  developed,  and  certainly  the  most 
important  electrical  contrivance  used  in  naval  warfare  is  the 
searchlight.  Of  these,  several  kinds  are  now  in  use  in  the 
service,  the  largest  and  most  powerful  being  the  Thomson- 
Houston  projector.  This  great  illuminating  engine,  together 
with  its  accessories,  has  a  gross  weight  of  1980  pounds,  is 
provided  with  a  30-inch  lens,  and  throws  a  stream  of  light 
across  the  water  in  any  direction  desired,  upon  which,  in  clear 
weather,  an  object  the  size  of  an  average  torpedo-boat  can  be 
seen  with  the  aid  of  glasses  at  a  distance  of  ten  miles. 

These  lights  are  situated  on  the  bridges  and  in  the  fighting 
tops  of  vessels,  their  principal  functions  being  to  discover  and 
light  up  an  object  whose  approach  has  been  detected,  so  that 
the  gunners  can  accurately  lay  their  guns.  There  arc,  how- 
ever, other  occasions  in  war  time  when  the  searchlight  is  of 
great  value,  such  as  in  fleet  action  at  night  or  between  vessels 
acting  singly  and  in  attacks  upon  shore  fortifications.  The 
minor  uses  of  the  searchlight  in  the  navy  are  too  many  and 
varied  to  admit  of  enumeration. 

Of  other  lights  used  on  shipboard  the  battle  lantern  is  next 
in  importance.  They  are  generally  placed  in  the  interior  of 
turrets  and  barbettes,  and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  bat- 
teries, in  such  positions  as  to  throw  the  light  only  inboard, 
while  the  exterior  surroundings  are  left  in  darkness.  These 
lamps  are  fitted  with  shields  which  can  be  rotated  until  the 
rays  of  light  are  entirely  cut  ofi.  thus  converting  them  into 
dark  lanterns.  The  signal  lights  are  provided  in  three  colors — 
red,  white  and  green — and  are  used  for  various  signaling  pur- 
poses, especially  between  friendly  ships  at  a  distance  from 
each  other. 

The  forward  decks  are  lighted  by  means  of  bulkhead  lamps, 
arranged  along  the  ships'  sides  and  against  stanchions  at  a 
height  of  three  feet  above  the  decks,  which  admits  of  the 
men's  hammocks  being  swung  from  the  beams  overhead  with- 


ELECTh'Iciry  <>.\   .1    JiATTLESJIir.  435 

Mut  inlerlering  with  such  lights  as  are  burned  throughout  the 
Wight.  In  the  officers'  quarters  specially  constructed  ceiling 
fixtures  in  the  form  of  steam-tight  globes  are  in  general  use. 
The  lights  used  in  the  engine  room,  bunkers  and  magazines 
are  all  of  a  distinct  pattern,  each  being  protected  by  extra 
heavy  glass  globes  and  metal  guards. 

The  telephone  is  now  the  most  popular  means  of  communi- 
cation on  board  ship  and  throughout  fleets  lying  at  anchor. 
Within  a  remarkably  short  space  of  time  after  anchoring  the 
\arious  vessels  are  connected  by  wires,  which  greatly  facili- 
lates  the  exchange  of  messages.  Throughout  each  vessel  the 
system  is  very  complete,  extending  into  the  tops,  turrets,  con- 
ning towers,  fire  room,  magazines,  etc..  in  addition  to  connect- 
ing all  its  living  compartments.  The  importance  of  such  an 
arrangement,  especially  in  time  of  war,  cannot  be  overesti- 
mated. 

Among  other  noteworthy  features  which  have  recently  been 
introduced  into  the  navy  are  the  various  kinds  of  electrical 
indicators  for  different  uses  on  board  its  vessels.  One  of  these 
is  the  "audible  direction  indicator,"  which  is  fitted  to  the 
engine  room  signaling  apparatus.  It  consists  of  an  electrical 
attachment  to  the  ordinary  ship's  telegraph,  so  arranged  that 
when  an  order  has  been  signaled  from  the  bridge  to  the  engine 
room  the  electric  bells  ring  in  both  places  until  the  engine 
actually  commences  to  work  as  directed.  Both  bells  will  like- 
wise ring  whenever  the  operation  of  the  engine  is  different 
from  that  called  for  by  the  position  of  the  pointer  on  the  deck 
transmitter  of  the  telegraph.  Side  by  side  with  this  instru- 
ment on  the  bridge  is  an  electrical  device  by  which  the  com- 
mander in  an  emergency  can  himself  control  the  stop  valve 
and  links  of  the  main  engines  of  his  ship,  checking  or  increas- 
ing her  speed  without  the  possible  delay  involved  in  signal- 
ing the  engine-room. 

Of  yet  greater  importance  to  the  science  of  naval  warfare  is 
the  electrical  device  known  as  the  "range  finder."  Telescopes 
are  located  at  any  desired  number  of  observing  stations  and 
simultaneous  signals  are  directed  to  the  object  whose  distance 
is  desired,  and  beams  of  light  showing  accurately  the  angle  of 


436  ELbJVTRIVlTY  OX  A  BATTLESIJII'. 

each  telescope  with  a  meridian  or  base  line  are  made  on  a 
chart  at  a  central  station.  The  intersection  of  these  beams 
shows  the  position  of  the  object  and  may  be  readily  measured. 
For  working  the  guns  on  shipboard  by  electricity,  two 
motors  are  used,  one  being  placed  on  a  bracket  bolted  to  the 
rear  of  the  left-hand  frame  of  the  carriage  for  training  in  ele- 
vation, while  the  other,  located  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
gun,  supplies  the  energy  for  training  horizontally.  In  both 
cases  a  clutch  is  interposed  in  such  a  manner  that  by  shifting 
a  lever  the  electrical  connection  can  be  thrown  out  and  the 
ordinary  hand  gear  substituted. 

The  mechanism  employed  in  firing  the  guns  is  both  simple 
and  ingenious.  In  the  base  of  the  cartridge  case  is  screwed 
an  electric  primer,  against  which  an  insulated  steel  pin,  carried 
in  the  axis  of  the  breech-block,  presses.  This  pin  is  in  com- 
munication with  the  electric  wires,  which  carry  the  current  to 
fire  the  primer,  only  when  the  breech-block  is  closed  and 
secured  by  turning  the  lever  downward  against  the  rear  of  the 
block.  The  circuit  is  closed  and  the  charge  fired,  in  the  case 
of  the  larger  guns,  by  touching  an  electric  push  button  or 
pressing  a  ,ubber  bulb,  and  in  case  of  the  smaller  by  pulling 
the  trigger  of  a  pistol  handle  arranged  in  a  convenient  posi- 
tion close  to  the  sights.  Connected  with  the  firing  gear  is  a 
small  instrument  which  gives  forth  a  ringing  sound  whenever 
the  circuit  is  complete.  This  notifies  the  gunner  that  every- 
thing is  correct  before  he  attempts  to  fire.  The  instrument 
also  provides  a  means  of  warning  whenever  the  gun  is  loaded, 
and  thus  is  dangerous  to  approach  within  the  limit  of  range 
or  recoil. 

The  plant  for  operating  the  turrets  is  separate  from  the 
ordinary  lighting  of  the  ships,  and  consists  of  two  units,  one 
for  each  turret.  Each  unit  consists  of  a  horizontal  engine  and 
two  direct  coupled  compound  dynamos.  In  case  of  accident 
to  one  of  the  units  both  turrets  can  be  worked  by  the  other. 
On  either  side  of  each  turret  a  powerful,  compound  wound, 
training  motor  is  placed,  rotating  it  by  means  of  gearing  and 
chains,  combined  with  a  number  of  heavy  springs,  which 
afiford  elasticity  of  movement.     The  motors  are  controlled  by 


ELECTRICITY  OX  A  BATTLESHIP.  487 

a  central  stand  in  the  turret,  acting  through  a  system  of  relays 
to  send  currents  of  desired  strength  in  either  direction  through 
the  armaments  of  the  motors. 

The  ammunition  hoist  of  each  turret  is  operated  by  a  small 
electric  motor  bolted  on  the  outside  of  the  turret  spindle. 
The  hoist  is  inside  of  the  turret  support,  and  consists  of  an 
endless  chain  leading  down  into  the  magazine  and  carrying 
shelves  on  which  the  charges  rest.  They  are  brought  up  to  the 
left  of  the  gun  and  deposited  on  a  hinged  platform,  which,  on 
being  swung  around  i8o  degrees,  brings  the  charge  opposite 
the  breech  of  the  gun.  where  it  comes  in  contact  with  an  elec- 
iric  rammer,  which  thrusts  it  into  the  chamber. 

Nearly  every  man-of-war  is  now  provided  with  one  or  more 
electric  launches,  operated  by  storage  batteries  capable  of 
driving  them  through  the  water  at  a  rate  of  speed  ranging 
from  twenty  to  thirty-five  knots  an  hour. 


488  sij'h'irr  si:in  icr:  systhm. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 

SKCTtKT     SKKVJCK     SVS'I'EM. 

A  PEEP  BEHIND  THE  SCENES — CHI  EI"  OI"  THK  TNITED  STATES 
SECRET  SERVICE  TELLS  OK  THE  INSIDE  WORKING  OF  HIS 
DEPARTMENT. 

By  John    F:ibert    Wilki*'.   t'hit'f  of   the    Tiiited    States   Secret   Service. 

It  is  hardly  necessar}-  to  say  that  such  a  tribute  to  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  American  secret  service  from  a  judge  so  well 
ciualified  as  the  fortner  Naval  Attache  of  the  late  Spanish  Le- 
gation was  highly  gratifying  to  those  of  us  who  had  been  lying 
awake  nights  trying  to  make  trouble  for  the  Spanish  agents. 
But  as  our  activity  was  simply  a  reflex  action,  due  to  the  tire- 
les.s  energy  of  the  zealous  subjects  of  the  boy  King,  Lieuten- 
ant Carranza  will  have  to  bear  part  of  the  responsibility  for 
the  watchfulness  which  he  so  gracefully  compliments. 

As  the  mysterious  is  always  attractive,  and  as  much  secrecy 
necessarily  was  observed  in  the  operations  of  this  branch  of 
the  governmental  service,  curiosity  concerning  its  work  has 
been  generally  manifested.  There  are,  however,  many  matters 
associated  with  its  administration  which  cannot  properly  be 
made  the  subject  of  publication.  Possibly  the  very  thing 
about  which  one  wishes  most  to  know  tnay  not  be  touched 
upon  in  this  paper.  If  so.  it  is  doubtless  because  that  particu- 
lar thing  is  one  about  which  the  writer  may  not  write. 

When  it  became  apparent  that  a  conflict  with  Spain  was  in- 
evitable steps  were  taken  under  the  advice  of  Secretary  Gage 
and  Assistant  Secretary  Vanderlip  to  organize  an  auxiliary 
force  of  the  secret  service  division  of  the  Treasury  Department. 
This  was  necessary,  because  the  regular  force  of  that  branch 
of  the  government   is   maintained  by  an  appropriation  which 


^'t'(•A•/•;7•  sHh'Viii:  systi:m.  ^^i 

may  be  drawn  upon  only  for  expenses  incurred  in  the  sup- 
pression of  counterfeiting.  As  soon  as  the  defense  fund  be- 
came available  the  President  made  a  preliminary  allotment  ot 
$5000  for  our  use.  and  some  weeks  later  increased  this  by 
$50,000.  which,  it  was  estimated,  would  be  sufficient  to  main- 
tain the  force  for  several  months. 

The  publication  of  the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  special 
allotment  for  an  addition  to  the  secret  service  made  it  wholly 
unnecessary  to  advertise  for  men.  The  applications  during 
the  first  thirtv  days  exceeded  a  thousand,  and  the  pressure  for 
appointment  became  embarrassing;  but  the  peculiar  nature 
of  the  work  the  men  would  have  to  do  made  it  essential  that 
they  should  be  thoroughly  familiar  with  Spanish.  ihis 
quickly  disposed  of  more  than  90  per  cent,  of  the  applicants, 
and  of  the  remainder  there  were  few  w^ho  possessed  the  other 
qualifications-detective  experience,  rugged  health,  strength, 
courage  and  enthusiasm. 

there's  no  money  in  it. 

It   is   morallv   certain   that   when   the    force   was   completed 
there  'was  not"  a  man   among  them  who  was  there  for   what 
there  was  "in  it,"  the  pay  being  $4  a  day  and  travelmg  and 
living  expenses,  the  latter  being  limited  to  $3  a  day.     With 
one  exception  they  were  under  forty  years  of  age.    All  of  them 
fairly  bubbled  over  with  loyalty,  were  determined  to  make  a 
record  and  were  ready   for  any  emergency  that  might  arise. 
It  may  surprise  a  great  many  persons  to  know  that  the  aux- 
iliary force  of  the  secret  service  during  the  war  was  sma.ler 
than  the  local  staff  of- a  large  metropolitan  newspaper;  but  as 
the  men  were  unusually  intelligent  and  reliable  it  was  possible 
to  satisfactorily  cover  the  country  with  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  operatives. 

Thanks  to  a  patriotic  public,  the  division  was  early  supplied 
with  much  information  relating  to  suspicious  strangers.  A 
realization  of  the  danger  to  the  country  from  these  internal 
enemies  placed  everyone  on  the  alert,  and  letters  fairly  poured 
into  the  ofi^ce.      ^lost  of  them   were   founded  on   trivial   sus- 


442  sijch'irr  si:n\  ici:  s)sti:.u. 

picion.  hut  iiiurc  than  a  ihoiihaiul  oi  tlic  "suspects"  reported 
by  mail  were  investigated.  The  greater  iiuniljer  of  these  were 
found  to  l)e  persons  who  were  inju(hci(uis  in  expressing  senti- 
ments not  entirely  loyal,  hut  only  when  they  went  so  far  as  to 
threaten  what  they  would  do  if  they  had  an  opportunity  were 
they  warned  that  they  were  simply  making  trouble  for  them- 
selves. 

When  it  was  possible  the  men  were  kept  at  headquarters  in 
Washington  for  some  time  before  being  assigned  to  indepen- 
dent work  outside,  and  as  the  capital  was  a  prolific  field  for 
mysterious  foreigners,  there  was  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
test  the  ability  of  the  agents  in  various  ways,  especially  in  the 
important  matter  of  "shadowing,"  a  fine  art  in  itself.  They 
were  also  enabled  to  obtain  a  general  idea  of  their  duties,  but 
such  an  arrangement  was  not  always  convenient. 

However,  it  is  pleasant  to  record  but  one  failure.  In  that 
particular  case  I  was  unable  to  foresee  the  exact  conditions 
under  which  the  agent  would  have  to  work,  and  explicit  ad- 
vance instructions  were  impracticable.  The  man  was  unable 
to  grasp  the  situation  when  he  reached  his  station,  and  had  to 
be  replaced. 

IN     TOUCH     WITH     W.ASHTNGTON. 

• 

Each  operative  was  provided  with  a  cipher  code  for  tele- 
graphic purposes,  and  when  his  territory  had  been  assigned 
was  expected  to  keep  in  constant  touch  with  Washington.  In 
my  private  oflice  at  headquarters  I  had  a  large  map  of  the 
United  States,  mounted  in  a  flat  cabinet,  and  by  means  of 
small  numbered  flags  attached  to  steel  pins  was  able  to  locate 
every  man  on  the  force  at  a  glance.  Montreal,  Toronto,  New 
^'ork,  Philadelphia,  Washington,  Newport  News,  Savannah, 
Jacksonville,  Tampa,  Key  West,  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  Galves- 
ton, San  Francisco  and  the  army  camp.s  were  the  principal 
points  of  activity. 

Tampa  was  a  particularly  lively  district,  for  in  addition  to 
the  secret  service  men  in  the  field  there  a  branch  of  the  Mili- 
tary Information   Bureau,   tmder  the  jurisdiction   of  the   War 


fiEVRKT   S[:iniCE   SYSTILM.  443 

Department,  was  maintained,  and  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
war  was  useful  in  looking  after  thefts  of  army  stores,  deserters 
and  military  ottenders  of  all  classes.  .Montreal  was  a  good 
second  in  the  matter  of  activity,  though  there  were  times  when 
Washington  led  them  all. 

Occasionally,  when  the  pressure  was  particularly  heavy,  it 
became  necessary  to  detail  the  regular  members  of  the  divi- 
sion to  run  out  certain  lines  of  investigation,  their  expenses 
at  such  times  being  defrayed  from  the  defense  fund.  Of  the 
thousand  or  more  "suspects"  something  over  six  hundred  men 
and  women  were  at  one  time  or  another  under  close  surveil- 
lance for  varying  periods,  among  them  professors,  diplomats, 
doctors,  merchants,  ci.garmakers.  inariners.  electrical  experts. 
government  employes  of  foreign  birth  and  uncertain  antece- 
dents, capitalists,  milliners,  dressmakers,  society  women  and 
servants.  Every  man  in  the  service  was  required  to  make  a 
detailed  daily  report  covering  his  operations,  and  there  were 
revealed  a  great  many  interesting  things  that  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  Spanish-American  War. 

SOME     QUEER     APPLICANTS. 

Most  of  the  applicants  for  appointment,  which  came  from 
every  State  in  the  Union,  and  from  England.  Canada  and  Mex- 
ico  as  well,  bore  evidences  of  having  been  written  by  intelli- 
gent men,  actuated  by  a  loyal  ambition  to  serve  their  country. 
About  half  of  them  were  addressed  to  the  War  Department, 
but  there  being  no  secret  service  in  that  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment they  were  referred  to  the  Treasury  Departtuent  for  con- 
sideration. Many  of  the  writers  confessed  to  an  absolute  ig- 
norance of  detective  work,  and  apparently  overlooked  the  fact 
that  we  were  dealing  with  a  foe  whose  language  was  not  onr 
own;  but  among  the  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  letters  there 
were  many  whose  authors  were  even  more  at  sea  as  to  tlic 
general  qualifications  necessary  for  the  work. 

One  man  advanced  the  statement,  among  others,  that  he 
had  been  married  four  times— possibly  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  his  courage  was  beyond  tiuestion.     Another  pointed  out 


444  SECiiiJT  si:h'\  Ki:  sysTi:M. 

lliat.  being  the  fortunate  possessor  of  "Spanish  wliiskers,"  he 
could  work  among  the  enemy  with  absolute  safety.  As  an  ex- 
ample of  the  queer  applications  received  the  following  is  a 
gem  well  worth  quoting: 

''i  wood  be  glad  to  render  my  servises  to  the  guvernment 
at  aney  time  or  in  aney  capassity  that  i  might  be  abel  to  do  i 
am  a  man  42  years  of  age  and  traveled  (|uiet  a  grate  deal  and 
at  the  present  travel  and  get  in  with  all  classes  of  peopcl  my 
occupation  is  sharpening  saws  for  butchers  or  aney  body  else 
that  has  them  to  do  so  i  get  amung  all  classes  of  peopel  i  usue 
2  langwages  german  and  the  american  or  english  spoken 
langwage  as  for  writeing  you  can  see  for  yureself." 

The  early  establishment  of  a  "crank"  box  was  necessary, 
hardly  a  day  passing  without  a  letter  or  two  from  some  irre- 
sponsible visionary  or  out-and-out  lunatic.  There  were  stacks 
of  anonymous  communications  threatening  death  and  destruc- 
tion to  everyone  connected  with  the  "unholy"  war,  and  scores 
of  suggestions  from  demented  persons  who  had  '"inspired" 
plans  for  the  annihilation  of  all  Spanish  emissaries.  Then 
there  was  a  class  of  cranks  with  hallucinations  that  they  were 
being  dogged  by  Spanish  spies  and  in  danger  of  assassina- 
tion, while  others  had  overheard  plots  to  blow  up  the  Presi- 
dent and  public  buildings. 

CRANKS     WERE     NUMEROUS. 

Where  such  letters  were  signed,  and  it  was  possible  to  locate 
the  writers,  the  matter  was  always  investigated,  but  in  no  in- 
stance was  the  author  found  to  be  a  responsible  person.  Not 
all  the  cranks  stopped  at  writing  to  the  department.  Many 
of  them  called  at  the  office  and  were  led  gently  away,  intro- 
duced to  the  guards  at  the  doors  of  the  Treasury  Building, 
and  thereafter  refused  admittance.  One  enterprising  woman 
succeeded  in  getting  in  to  see  me.  however,  with  a  unique 
scheme  to  ascertain  the  identity  of  the  leading  Spanish  agents 
in  this  country. 

"This  is  my  plan,"  she  said  enthusiastically,  after  introduc- 
ing herself.     "As  soon  as  you  engage  my  services  I  shall  go 


SECRET  SEJx'McE   SYSTEM.  447 

to  New  York  and  look  about  among  the  theaters  until  I  find 
where  the  most  patriotic  audiences  gather.  Then  at  one  of 
the  evening  performances,  when  they  are  all  cheering  for  the 
United  States.  I  shall  stand  up  in  my  seat  and  cry,  'Spain  for- 
ever! Hurrah  lor  Alfonso!"  Of  course.  I  shall  be  arrested, 
and  the  matter  will  get  into  the  papers,  and  I  shall  be  visited 
by  the  friends  of  Spain,  who  will  be  convinced  that  I  am  a 
sympathizer.  So.  gradually.  I  shall  be  able  to  worm  my  way 
into  their  confidence  until  I  shall  have  gained  all  their  secrets. 
Now.  won"t  that  be  lovely?" 

The  chances  being  that  if  she  tried  it  the  audience  might 
not  leave  enough  of  her  to  sympathize  with,  and  as  she  looked 
as  if  her  children  might  need  attention,  she  was  advised  to  go 
hon-ie.  She  departed  reluctantly,  thoroughly  convinced  that 
the  government  was  making  a  fatal  mistake  in  declining  her 

services. 

When  the  "emergency  men,"  as  the  temporary  employes  ot 
the  division  were  termed,  were  instructed  in  the  use  of  the 
cipher  code  they  were  told  that  in  communicating  with  head- 
quarters thev  should  use.  instead  of  my  name.  "John  Ehlen,  ' 
which  I  had  registered  with  the  telegraph  companies.  This 
was  simply  a  precautionary  measure,  intended  to  protect  the 
operatives  by  eliminating  the  chance  that  seme  one  might  dis- 
cover the  message  .vas  for  the  secret  service,  identify  the 
sender  as  a  member  of  the  division,  and  destroy  his  usefulness 
in  that  particular  locality,  if  nothing  worse. 

AN     INTERCEPTED     TELEGRAM. 

Out  of  this  arrangement  grew  a  curious  incident.  In  the 
latter  part  of  May  a  young  Western  newspaper  correspondent, 
stationed  in  Washington,  sent  in  his  card,  asking  to  see  me  on 
important  and  confidential  business.  When  admitted  he  ex- 
plained that  a  telegraph  operator,  whom  he  had  known  for 
years  in  the  West,  and  who  had  been  transferred  to  the  capital, 
'had  intercepted  a  cipher  message  from  Montreal  the  night 
before,  and  believed  it  was  from  the  Spanish  headquarters  to 
an  agent  here.     We  were  particularly  interested  in  the  Spanish 


448  SECh'ET  Si:h'\  ICE  .SYSTEM. 

messages  at  that  time,  having  possession  of  a  cipher  that  was 
being  used  in  some  of  their  correspondence,  and  the  news- 
paper man,  knowing  this,  had  suggested  to  his  friend  the 
operator  that  the  suspected  communication  be  submitted  to 
our  office. 

He  liad  tried  to  translate  it,  but  was  unable  to  succeed,  and 
he  wondered  if  we  would  have  better  luck.  The  copy  of  the 
mysterious  message,  which  he  then  produced  and  placed  be- 
fore me  on  the  desk,  was  addressed  to  my  alias,  the  original, 
from  one  of  my  men,  being  in  a  drawer  at  my  side.  Under 
the  circumstances  I  felt  moderately  certain  that  we  could  get 
at  its  meaning,  but  without  explaining  to  the  correspondent 
I  told  him  that  if  we  did  succeed  in  deciphering  it,  and  the 
contents  were  of  such  a  character  as  to  permit  of  their  publi- 
cation, he  should  have  a  "scoop"  on  it.  This  satisfied  him, 
and  he  went  away. 

A  little  later  I  called  up  the  telegraph  company  and  asked 
that  the  operator  in  question  should  be  sent  to  the  office  for 
a  moment.  In  a  few  minutes  he  was  ushered  in — a  young, 
bright-faced  fellow,  with  plenty  of  color  in  his  cheeks  and  an 
air  of  suppressed  excitement.  I  only  guessed  that  he  felt  his 
discovery  had  been  of  value  to  the  government,  and  he  was 
to  be  rewarded  in  some  way.  In  reply  to  my  question,  he 
detailed  how  he  had  received  the  message,  and  how,  when  it 
occurred  to  him  that  it  might  be  from  one  Spanish  agent  to 
another,  he  had  surreptitiously  obtained  a  copy  of  it.  The 
fact  that  it  bore  no  local  address  had  made  it  doubtly  sus- 
picious, as  it  indicated  that  it  was  to  be  called  for. 

AN     AWKWARD     INTERVIEW. 

■'Didn't  it  occur  to  you  to  see  if  the  person  to  whom  it  was 
addressed  was  registered  in  the  office  with  delivery  direc- 
tions?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Well,  if  you  had  consulted  your  company's  books  you 
would  have  discovered  that  I  am  'John  Ehlen,"  and  that  this 
is  a  government  message." 


sKch'irr  si:h'\  1CI-:  systi:m. 


-44'J 


The  poor  fellow's  face  was  a  study  when  he  realized  that  he 
had  held  out  an  official  telegram  and  had  turned  it  over  to  a 
newspaper  man.  He  appreciated  the  gravity  of  the  offense  m 
violating  his  oath  as  an  operator,  and  felt  that  his  position 
was  as  good  as  gone,  under  circumstances  that  would  make 
it  impossible  for  him  to  obtain  employment  with  any  com- 
pany. He  said  nothing,  but  his  eyes  tilled  with  tears. 
"Have  you  a  family?" 

"No,  sir.  but  I  am  supporting  my  old  father  and  mother." 
"Your  n.otive  was  the  best  in  the  world,"  I  said  finally,  "but 
your  methods  are  open  to  criticism.  Now.  nothing  shall  be 
said  to  the  company  about  this,  but  if  in  the  future  you  catch 
any  mvsterious  messages,  just  bring  them  straight  to  me  with- 
out entrusting  them  to  any  outsider.  If  your  newspaper  friend 
had  succeeded  in  translating  this  message  it  might  have  been 
awkward  for  all  of  us." 

This  was  quite  true,  for  the  message  in  question  detailed 
brieih".  but  completely,  the  capture  of  the  Carranza  letter.  He 
gave  me  a  grateful  pressure  of  the  hand,  and  the  incident  was 
closed. 

SOME    CLEVER     CIPHERS. 

Apropos  of  ciphers,  there  were  several  employed  by  the 
Spanish.  There  was  a  "figure"  cipher,  which  we  were  unable 
to  translate,  and  there  was  another  whose  mystery  we  solved. 
This  was  rather  ingenious  and  as  simple  as  it  was  clever. 
The  day  of  the  month  on  which  the  communication  was  writ- 
ten was  the  key.  For  instance,  if  the  letter  was  dated  on  the 
6th.  the  sixth  letter  of  the  alphabet,  '"f."  was  used  in  place  oi 
•'a.'"  "g"  instead  of  "b."  and  so  on.  This  gave  a  change  for 
every  day  in  the  month. 

Among  the  letters  seized  on  the  steamer  Panama  we  found 
several  in  which,  after  completing  what  looked  like  an  ordi- 
nary, commonplace  letter,  the  author  had  written  the  secret 
information  between  the  lines  in  sympathetic  ink.  which  de- 
veloped only  on  being  subjected  to  a  temperature  almost 
high  enough  to  scorch  the  paper.     There  were  a  number  of 


450  tiEVRET  .SERVICE   SYiSTEM. 

these  from  Mexico  to  suspected  individuals  in  New  Orleans, 
relating  to  the  purchase  of  supplies  to  be  shipped  to  the  open 
ports  of  Cuba,  and  up  to  the  time  that  the  blockade  was  ex- 
tended to  include  the  whole  island  there  was  a  large  and  con- 
stant movement  of  supplies  from  this  country  to  Vera  Cruz. 

Some  of  the  most  delicate  and  interesting  work  of  the  de- 
partment was  that  involving  the  "testing"  of  suspects.  Giveii 
a  clever  operative,  who  could  speak  Spanish  like  a  native,  and 
the  right  opportunity,  il  was  moderately  certain  that  within 
a  comparatively  short  time  the  subject  of  the  investigation 
could  be  induced  to  declare  hiniself.  There  were  a  few  cases, 
however,  where  the  conditions  were  peculiar  and  the  accom 
plishment  of  the  task  decidedly  difiicult. 

One  of  these,  with  a  touch  of  comedy  in  it,  was  that  of  ;i 
certain  German  doctor  in  an  Eastern  city,  whose  social  posi- 
tion was  of  the  highest  and  whose  reputation  was  the  best. 
Several  letters  had  been  received  warning  us  that  the  doctor 
was  a  most  dangerous  spy.  He  was  not  naturalized,  and  Ite- 
fore  hostilities  broke  out  had  been  an  avowed  friend  of  Spain. 
It  was  stated  that  last  year  he  had  gone  abroad,  ostensibly  to 
visit  Germany,  but  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  gone  to  Aus- 
tria and  afterward  to  Spain,  and  now  was  certainly  acting  as 
an  agent  for  the  enemy. 

INVESTU;.\TJN(;     THE      UOCTOR. 

After  sending  to  several  of  the  writers  of  the  warning  letters 
and  establishing  the  fact  that  they  were  reputable  and  respon- 
sible persons,  arrangements  were  made  for  a  careful  watch 
upon  the  doctor.  His  associations  were  found  to  include  no 
suspicious  individuals,  his  actions  were  rational,  and  he  seemed 
to  be  behaving  himself  like  an  ordinary  mortal.  The  facts 
against  him  were  that  he  was  an  outspoken  advocate  of  Spain, 
writing  and  speaking  in  her  behalf,  openly  denouncing  this 
country  for  its  part  in  the  conflict,  and  expressing  the  hope 
that  victory  might  rest  with  the  Spanish  arms. 

Yet  this  was  in  a  sense  in  his  favor,  for  it  seemed  more  than 
likely  a  secret  agent  would  cloak  his  operations  under  a  pre- 


o 
o 

o 
o 
> 
z 

G 
H 

O 

w 
o 
< 


SECRiyr  SHHVICE   .Sr.sT/'Lli.  -453 

tended  friendship  for  this  cuunlry.  Hut  ho  was  an  nitiuential 
man,  with  many  acquaintances  in  governmental  positions,  and 
if  the  charges  were  well  founded  would  be  a  dangerous  enemy, 
l)ecause  he  was  so  situated  as  to  easily  obtain  very  important 
information.  It  was.  therefore,  extremely  desirable  to  f^x  his 
exact  status.  The  question  was  whether  he  was  doing  more 
than  employing  mere  moral  force  in  behalf  of  Spain.  Any- 
one could  obtam  his  friendly  view  of  the  Dons  for  the  asking, 
but  if  he  was  engaged  on  a  secret  mission  it  would  require 
exceedingly  delicate  w'ork  to  ascertain  the  truth. 

It  chanced  that  the  first  week  in  May  I  had  made  a  short 
trip  to  the  West,  and  on  the  "limited"  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  a  foreign  gentleman,  an  Austrian,  en  route  to  :Mexico.  He 
had  given  me  his  card,  a  very  formidable  black-bordered  af- 
fair, identifying  him  as  Count  L ,  of  Vienna,  an  officer  of 

the'society  of  Jesus.  I  had  kept  the  pasteboard,  and  one  day, 
while  the  case  of  the  German  doctor  was  under  consideration, 
a  glance  at  it  in  my  desk  suggested  a  plan  which  was  soon 

given  a  trial. 

I  assigned  to  the  work  an  operative  speaking  all  the  Conti- 
nental languages,  thoroughly  familiar  with  Austria,  Germany 
and  Spain,  and  otherwise  especially  well  equipped  for  the 
task  before  him.  He  called  upon  the  doctor,  addressed  him 
in  German,  begged  a  private  interview,  and  then  confided  to 
him  that  he  was  anxious  to  do  something  for  Spain.  He 
alluded  touchingly  to  the  natural  sympathy  for  his  beautiful 
countrywoman,  who  was  being  so  sorely  tried.     He  had  met 

Com-it  L .  who  was  here  on  a  political  mission,  and  had 

spoken  to  him  of  his  desire. 

A     BIT     OF     STRATEGY. 

The  count  had  told  him  of  the  great  friendship  of  Austria 
for  Spain,  and  had  ad\ised  him  that  if  he  wished  to  serve  her 
ne  could  not  do  better  than  call  upon  the  famous  Doctor  X. 
who  was  in  a  position  to  instruct  him;  because,  as  the  count 
had  intimated  to  him  in  the  strictest  confidence,  the  doctor 
was  doing  a  little  quiet  secret  work  for   Spain.      The  count 


■A54  xEcinrr  shin  icr:  sysTi:M. 

had  writ' en  the  doctor's  name  and  address  on  one  of  his  own 
cards.  Here  it  was.  Now,  would  the  good  doctor  tell  him 
liow  lie  couUl  serve  poor  Spain?  No  mission  would  be  too 
dangerous  for  him  to  undertake. 

The  doctor  was  much  agitated  during  his  visitor's  recital, 
which  was  carried  on  in  a  cautious  whisper,  and  when  it  was 
finished  was  silent  for  a  time.  Finally,  he  said  that  though 
he  felt  honored  at  the  confidence  displayed  in  his  discretion. 
and  would  be  glad  to  advise  his  friend,  he  himself  dared  do  no 
more  than  write  and  speak  for  the  downtrodden  nation. 

We  were  satisfied  from  the  result  of  the  test  that  the  doctor 
was  not  a  spy,  and  thereafter  disregarded  the  warnings  con- 
cerning him.  A  curious  sequel  to  the  agent's  call  was  that  a 
few  days  later  the  Austrian  Minister  was  obliged  to  deny  a 
foolish  story  to  the  efTect  that  his  government  was  preparing 
to  make  a  friendly  demonstration  in  behalf  of  Spain.  I  fancy 
the  origin  of  the  rumor  might  have  been  traced  to  my  friend 
the  doctor,  who  overestimated  the  Austrian  count's  revelation 
to  the  nervous  man  who  was  so  anxious  to  do  something  for 
an  unhappy  people. 

Strangely  enough,  the  two  best  spies  to  whom  Lieutenant 
Carranza  refers  in  his  more  or  less  famous  letter  to  his  uncle 
were  not  Spaniards.  Both  were  of  English  birth,  and  neither 
even  spoke  Spanish.  Both  are  dead — one  destroyed  himself 
in  prison,  and  the  other  fell  a  victim  to  deadly  typhoid  while 
incarcerated  in  Fort  McPherson.  The  circumstances  leading 
up  to  the  arrest  of  these  men  are  interesting  in  that  they  illus- 
trate two  widely  different  phases  of  the  work  of  the  agents  of 
the  emergency  force  of  the  federal  secret  service. 

SH.\DOWTN(;     THE     FORMKR     MINISTER, 

One  of  the  first  men  employed  in  the  special  investigation 
was  a  young  New  Yorker  of  fine  family  and  excellent  social 
position.  A  long  residence  abroad  had  given  him  a  fluent 
command  of  modern  languages.  He  was  the  possessor  of 
much  natural  shrewdness,  and  his  courage  was  unquestioned. 
He  was  sent  to  Toronto   immediately  after  the  departure  oi 


.s'£r'/v/;r  sHin  ici:  s)sti:.\i.  455 

Seiior  Polo  y  Barnabe,  with  instructions  to  keep  headquarters 
advised  of  the  movements  of  the  former  Minister's  party,  to 
look  carefully  alter  those  who  might  connect  with  them  in 
any  way,  and  to  do  both  without  arousing  suspicion. 

He  was  fortunate  in  securing  a  room  adjoining  that  occu- 
pied by  Lieutenant  Carranza.  and  as  there  was  a  connecting 
door,  against  which  the  head  of  his  bed  was  placed,  he  was 
beautifully  situated  for  his  purpose.  Early  on  the  morning 
of  Friday.  May  6.  an  earnest  conversation,  this  time  in  Eng- 
lish, was  being  carried  on  in  the  lieutenant's  room.  It  lasted 
for  an  hour  or  more.  The  lieutenant's  visitor  showed  an  in- 
timate knowledge  of  the  American  navy,  and  referred  to  his 
own  services  on  the  Brooklyn. 

Carranza  f^rst  satisfied  himself  that  the  man  knew  what  he 
was  talking  about,  and  then  arranged  for  him  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington, where  he  was  to  secure  certain  information  and  for- 
ward it  to  Montreal,  for  which  point  the  former  Minister  was 
to  leave  that  afternoon.  Instructions  were  given  in  the  use  of 
the  code  for  telegraphing,  and  there  was  much  further  talk 
in  a  tone  too  low  to  be  understood,  but  the  stranger  was  finally 
heard  to  say.  "Then  I  am  to  write  to  this  address  in  Montreal." 

CAPTURING     A     SPY. 

Carranza  assented,  and  our  agent,  believing  the  visit  was  at 
an  end.  opened  the  door  and  stepped  into  the  hall.  He  had 
timed  his  movements  well,  for  Carranza  was  just  bidding  his 
visitor  farewell.  Together  the  secret  service  man  and  the 
stranger  walked  through  the  hall,  the  former  asking  a  light 
for  his  cigarette  as  they  passed  down  the  stairway.  At  the 
door  they  separated.  The  suspect  was  shadowed  to  an  ob- 
scure hotel,  where  it  was  ascertained  that  he  had  registered  as 
"Alexander    Cree."   and   that   he   was   to   leave   the    city   that 

evening. 

That  afternoon  the  following  telegram  in  cipher  was  dehv- 

ered  to  me: 

"Young  Southerner.  Alexander  Cree.  of  Hillsboro.  I  think, 
leaves  for  Washington  tonight.     My  height  and  build,  dark. 


456  SECRET  SERVICE   SYSTEM. 

small  mustache,  black  soft  felt  hat.  black  sack  coat,  black 
sailor  tie,  somewhat  shabby,  evidently  served  on  Brooklyn; 
has  intimate  knowledge  of  naval  matters.  Just  had  long  inter- 
view with  naval  attache.     He  is  to  write  to  Montreal." 

The  next  morning  arrangements  were  made  to  "cover"  in- 
coming trains  in  Washington,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  description 
our  man  was  picked  out  of  the  crowd  at  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
depot  with  as  much  ease  as  if  we  had  been  furnished  his  pho- 
tograph. From  the  moment  of  his  arrival  every  movement 
was  watched.  He  was  evidently  familiar  with  the  city,  for  he 
asked  no  questions  in  going  about.  One  of  his  trips  included 
a  call  at  the  Navy  Department,  after  which  he  returned  to  his 
boarding-house.  No.  916  E  street  N.  W.,  where  he  remained 
for  an  hour  or  so,  going  thence  to  the  postoffice,  where  he 
mailed  a  letter.  This  was  promptly  secured  and  taken  to 
headquarters.  It  bore  the  address,  "Frederick  W.  Dickson, 
Esq.,  124S  Dorchester  street,  ]\Iontreal,"  and  was  as  follows: 

"Washmgton,  Saturday,  'Slay  7,  1898.— A  cipher  message 
has  been  sent  off  from  the  Navy  Department  to  San  Francisco, 
directing  the  cruiser  Charleston  to  proceed  to  Manila  with  five 
hundred  men  and  machinery  for  repairs  for  Dewey.  A  long 
cipher  has  been  received  from  Dewey  at  Department  at  3.30 
P.  M.  They  are  translating  it  now.  Cannot  find  it  out  yet. 
Have  heard  important  news  respecting  movements  of  colliers 
and  cruiser  Newark  at  Norfolk  Navy  Yard,  also  about  the 
new  Holland  boat,  as  to  what  they  intend  to  do  with  her  and 
her  destination.  I  shall  go  to  Norfolk  soon  to  find  important 
news.  My  address  will  be  Norfolk  House,  Norfolk,  Va.,  but 
shall  not  go  until  Tuesday. 

"Respectfully  yours. 

"G.  D.,  in  haste." 

This  fully  confirmed  the  suspicion  that  he  was  a  hired  spy 
and  warranted  immediate  action.  As  his  ofYense  was  a  mili- 
tary one,  I  laid  the  fact  before  the  Assistant  Secretary  01  War 
and  the  Judge  Advocate  General,  with  the  result  that  a  military 
arrest  was  decided  upon.  Captain  Sage,  of  the  Eighth  Artil- 
lery, with  a  corporal  and  one  man,  was  ordered  to  report  to  me 


SEC  BET  HERVICE  SYSTEM.  -159 

at   the   Treasury    Building,   and   at    ii    o'clock   that   night   we 
arrested  the  suspected  man  in  his  room. 

We  rather  anticipated  a  lively  time,  but,  much  to  my  sur- 
prise, he  wilted  completelj  when  I  placed  him  under  arrest, 
and  he  was  led  away  without  resistance.  A  search  oi  the 
apartment  resulted  m  the  seizure  of  partly  finished  letter.,  to 
the  same  address  in  Montreal,  and  documents  establi.shing  the 
identity  of  the  prisoner  as  George  Downing,  naturalized  citi- 
zen and  formerly  yeoman  of  the  cruiser  Brooklyn.  In  one 
corner  of  a  bureau  drawer,  otherwise  empty,  I  found  a  scrap 
of  letter  paper,  upon  one  side' of  which  the  address  in  Dor- 
chester street,  and  on  the  other  these  words:  "Slater's  Code. 
To  send  add  lOo;  to  receive  subtract  lOO." 

COLLECTING     THE     EVIDENCE. 

This  was  the  key  to  the  cipher  he  was  to  employ,  the  sys- 
tem being  one  in  which  thousands  of  ordinary  words  arranged 
alphabetically  have  fixed  consecutive  numbers  of  five  figures 
each.  In  preparing  a  telegram  under  the  cipher  indicated  on 
the  slip  the  desired  word,  having  been  found  in  the  list,  lOO 
would  have  been  added  to  its  corresponding  number,  and  the 
word  opposite  the  higher  number  thus  obtained  would  have 
been  used  in  the  cipher  message.  In  translating  the  cipher, 
after  ascertaining  the  number  associated  with  the  word  on 
the  message,  the  subtraction  of  lOO  would  disclose  the  figures 
opposite  which  would  be  the  real  word  desired. 

The  evidence  secured  in  Downing's  room,  considered  m 
connection  with  the  consultation  with  Carranza  and  the  letter 
mailed  to  Montreal,  would  have  been  sulhcient  to  insure  con- 
viction, and  the  prisoner  evidently  appreciated  the  fact,  for 
two  days  later  he  hanged  himself  in  his  cell  at  the  barracks. 
It  may  be  added  that  the  Dorchester  street  house  had  been 
rented  furnished  by  a  Spanish  agent  the  day  before  Senor  Polo 
left  Toronto,  but  it  was  soon  after  given  up. 

The  operations  of  the  Spanish  agents  in  Canada  were  mate- 
rially aided  by  a  private  detective  agency  of  the  Dominion, 
through  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  carry  out  an  extensive 


4(;(l  SFA'RET   SERVICE   SYSTEM. 

and  rather  ingenious  scheme  lor  the  collection  of  information 
about  our  forces.  Young  men  who  had  had  experience  in  the 
Canadian  or  English  military  organizations  were  to  proceed 
to  various  points  and  there  enlist  in  the  American  army,  San 
Franciso  and  Tampa  being  selected  as  the  most  advantageous 
points  from  which  to  operate.  The  spies  were  to  quietly  col- 
lect all  the  facts  as  to  troops,  guns  and  so  on,  to  proceed  with 
the  army  of  invasion  to  ^lanila  or  Cuba,  as  the  case  might  be, 
and  upon  reaching  the  foreign  port  were  to  escape  at  the  first 
opportunity  and  deliver  themselves  into  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards. 

Each  was  to  be  provided  with  a  plain  ring,  of  gold  or  silver, 
upon  the  inner  circumference  of  which  were  engraved  the 
words,  "Confienza  Augustina,"  and  this  token  was  to  be  sent 
by  a  messenger  to  the  cominanding  officer  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  reaching  the  Spanish  lines.  The  general,  or  who- 
ever received  the  ring,  having  been  instructed  that  these  would 
lie  sent  by  spies  in  their  service,  would  summon  him  and  hear 
his  report.  He  would  then  be  permitted  to  make  his  way  back 
to  the  American  lines  to  establish  such  other  means  of  com- 
munication as  might  suggest  themselves. 

EXPERIENCE     OF     TWO     ENGLISHMEN. 

The  first  of  these  agents  to  be  secured  was  a  young  English- 
man in  Montreal,  whose  name  might  have  been  Atkins.  lie 
was  down  on  his  luck,  out  of  work  and  desperate.  He  was 
treated  liberally  with  liquor,  and  the  scheme  was  unfolded  to 
him  at  the  office  of  the  detective  agency  when  he  was  in  a 
properly  receptive  mood,  and  where  he  was  accomjianied  by 
another  young  Englishman.  Frederick  Elmhurst.  who  had 
just  served  his  time  in  one  of  the  Canadian  batteries,  and  who 
was  also  willing  to  go  into  the  plot. 

The  following  day  they  were  taken  to  the  London  House, 
in  Montreal,  and  there  met  Lieutenant  Carranza.  who.  after 
looking  them  over,  asked  if  they  understood  what  they  were 
to  do  and  were  willing  to  undertake  the  mission.  Roth  agreed 
to  the   proposition.     They   then   separated,   and    .Atkins,    who 


(SECRET  SERVICE  SYSTEM.  4(51 

was  to  go  to  San  Francisco,  was  given  $ioo  with  wliich  to 
pay  his  transportation,  provide  himself  with  the  ring  and  have 
something  left  over  for  emergencies.  He  bought  his  ticket, 
but  fortunately  waited  until  he  was  sober  before  packing  up. 
When  his  brain  had  sufficiently  cleared  to  enable  him  to  realize 
what  he  was  doing  he  decided  to  wait  awhile. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  he  hunted  up  his  old  colonel, 
made  a  clean  breast  of  the  whole  matter,  and  was  advised  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Then  he  called  on  a  former  em- 
ployer in  Montreal  and  told  him  of  the  proposition  and  of  his 
determination  to  fight  shy  of  it,  adding  that  he  was  "an  Eng- 
lishman and  he'd  be  blowed  if  he'd  fight  against  white  men 
for  any foreigner." 

One  of  the  Spanish-Canadian  private  detectives,  meeting 
Atkins  some  time  later,  decoyed  him  to  a  cheap  hotel,  where 
he  beat  and  threatened  to  kill  him,  and  the  victim,  fearing  fur- 
ther violence,  left  the  country  in  a  cattle  steamer  bound  for 
Liverpool.  His  Montreal  friend,  who  was  an  American,  hav- 
ing redeemed  the  unused  railroad  ticket  and  taken  possession 
of  the  ring,  reported  the  matter  to  one  of  the  United  States 
consuls,  who  forwarded  the  information  to  Washington. 

ANOTHER    SPANISH     SPY. 

Just  before  this  information  reached  us  one  of  our  men  at 
Tampa  found  that  a  man  known  as  ]\Iiller  had  attempted  to 
enlist  there,  but  had  been  refused,  as  no  more  men  were  being 
laken  at  that  time.  ^liller  was  stopping  at  the  Almeria  Hotel, 
and  it  was  soon  learned  was  in  telegraphic  communication 
with  Montreal.  Tuesday,  May  24,  the  following  message  was 
intercepted  by  the  military  censor: 

"Cannot  telegraph  money  today.  ]\Iove  from  where  you 
are  and  telegraph  from  some  other  town.  Write  fully  re 
stocks  at  once.     \\'ill  wire  money  and  instructions  on  receipt. 

"SIDDALL." 

This  being  considered  sufficiently  suggestive  to  warrant  his 
detention,  he  was  taken  in  by  our  agents.  Papers  in  his  pos- 
session included  a  declaration  of  intention,  from  which  it  ap- 


462  ■  !<L'A'RI:T   HiJK\  ice   SYSTEM. 

peared  that  his  correct  name  was  Frank  Arthur  Mellor,  and 
that  he  came  from  Kingston,  Ontario.  Other  messages  on  his 
person  were  not  satisfactorily  explained,  and  he  could  not  tell 
what  was  meant  by  the  order  to  move  to  another  town  and 
"write  fully  re  stocks." 

Suspicion  became  a  certainty  on  the  Sunday  following  his 
arrest,  when  I  received  the  Carranza  letter,  captured  in  Mon- 
treal, and  found  the  reference  to  the  second  of  the  best  spies 
who  had  been  arrested  "day  before  yesterday  in  Tampa."  The 
Carranza  letter  was  written  Thursday,  May  26,  and  the  date 
referred  to  would  therefore  have  been  Tuesday,  when  Mellor 
was  taken  into  custody.  However,  as  it  would  have  been 
hardly  fair  to  prosecute  Mellor  on  the  Lieutenant's  unsup- 
ported statement,  copies  of  telegrams,  with  other  information 
obtained  from  Tampa,  were  forwarded,  and  the  agents  at  Mon- 
treal were  set  at  work  confirming  the  Canadian  end  of  the 
conspiracy. 

It  was  soon  established  that  ]\lellor  had  been  intimately 
associated  with  the  Spanish-Canadian  detective  agency,  and 
was  the  man  who  approached  .\tkins  on  behalf  of  the  firm 
to  go  into  the  scheme  of  enlisting  and  carrying  information 
to  the  enemy.  Siddall.  whose  name  was  signed  to  the  mes- 
sage, was  found  to  be  a  barkeeper  in  a  Montreal  dive,  and, 
through  a  woman,  had  been  induced  to  loan  his  name  to  the 
detectives.  Atkins  was  broughl  l)ack  to  this  country,  and  in 
a  sworn  statement  fully  corroborated  the  mass  of  evidence 
already  in  our  hands. 

THE     DEATH     OF     MELLOR. 

In  tlic  meantime  Mellor.  who  had  been  sent  to  Fort  McPher- 
son,  had  been  visited  by  a  Montreal  attorney,  who  had  been 
seen  in  close  consultation  with  the  private  detectives,  and  Sid- 
dall acknowledged  that  he  had  given  this  attorney  an  order 
on  the  telegraph  company  for  copies  of  the  original  messages 
sent  from  Canada.  In  various  other  ways  the  connection  be- 
tween the  Spanish  headquarters  in  Montreal  and  Mellor  had 
been  established,  and  the  evidence   was  in   the  possession   of 


SFA'RET  Sh:H\  ll'E   S\\STIJ.\J.  463 

the  Judge  Advocate  General,  who  had  the  charges  prepared 
when  the  protocol  was  signed. 

Had  Mellor  lived  it  is  quite  likely  that  peace  would  have 
given  him  his  liberty,  but  typhoid  claimed  him  about  ten  days 
after  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  Frederick  Elmhurst.  the 
Canadian  who  had  succeeded  in  enlisting  at  Tampa,  was  ar- 
rested and  held  at  Fort  :\IcPherson  until  recently,  when  he 
was  sent  North  and  released. 

It  was  generally  believed  that  when  Senor  Polo's  party  lin- 
gered in  Canada  it  was  the  intention  to  establish  an  informa- 
tion bureau,  and  one  of  the  principal  tasks  of  the  division  was 
the  breaking  up  of  that  institution.  While  many  facts  ascer- 
tained by  the  agents  of  the  American  secret  service  made  it 
certain  beyond  question  that  a  regular  system  of  espionage 
was  being  conducted  on  neutral  territory,  there  was  not  enough 
on  which  to  approach  Great  Britain  with  a  request  for  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  offenders,  and  we  were  an.xious  to  cbtam 
something  conclusive  upon  which  action  could  be  based.  The 
men  in  Montreal  were  particularly  alert  for  the  right  sort  of 
evidence,  and  never  left  the  Spanish  combination  alone  for  a 
moment. 

When  the  former  Minister  returned  to  Spain  Lieutenant 
Carranza  and  Senor  du  Bosc  rented  a  furnished  house  at  No. 
42  Tupper  street.  They  took  it  for  two  months  only,  and 
having  ascertained  this  fact,  one  of  our  men  secured  a  card 
from  the  real  estate  agent,  requesting  that  the  tenant  kindly 
permit  the  bearer  to  see  the  house.  A  party  of  three  was  then 
made  up,  including  a  lady,  and  alxuit  ti  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon of  Saturday,  ?\Iay  _'S.  they  called,  were  admitted  by  the 
maid,  and  shown  slowly  through  the  various  apartments. 

Carranza  and  Du  Bosc  were  at  breakfast  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  house,  and  as  the  visitors  passed  through  the  sleeping- 
room  of  the  former  one  of  the  men  saw  an  official-looking  let- 
ter, stamped  and  ready  for  the  mail,  lying  upon  a  dresser.  Tin- 
lady  and  one  of  her  companions  moved  out  toward  the  hall 
with  the  servant,  while  the  third  member  of  the  party  slipped 
the  letter  into  his  pocket.  In  the  lower  hall,  just  before  they 
left,  the  postman  passed  in  three  large  letters,  and  these  would 


4(;4  ■  si:ch'HT   SERVICE   SYSTEM. 

also  have  been  in  our  possession  in  a  moment  but  for  the 
sudden  appearance  of  the  maid,  who  took  charge  of  them. 

As  quickly  as  possil)le  after  leaving  the  house  the  letter 
was  enclosed  in  another  envelope,  bearing  both  American  and 
Canadian  stamps,  and  was  entrusted  to  an  American  locomo- 
tive engineer  about  to  start  upon  his  run,  and  who  was  in- 
structed to  take  it  as  far  as  Burlington,  Vt..  and  then  mail  it. 
He  carried  out  his  share  of  the  work  perfectly,  the  letter  com- 
ing through  all  right  and  being  delivered  to  me  late  Sunday 
night. 

Immediately  after  leaving  the  Tupper  street  place  one  man 
and  the  woman  left  for  Toronto  and  the  other  operative  went 
(uU  into  the  suburbs  to  look  after  another  suspect.  The  ex- 
citement in  the  vicinity  of  the  Spanish  headciuarters  when  the 
loss  was  discovered  may  well  be  imagined.  Carranza  knew 
what  damaging  admissions  he  had  made,  and  if,  as  he  feared, 
the  American  government  had  his  letter,  his  usefulness  to  his 
own  was  practically  ended.  He  first  denied  that  the  letter  was 
of  any  special  value,  and  when  a  translation  was  printed 
claimed  that  certain  of  the  published  statements  were  not  in 
his  letter,  asserting  that  interpolations  had  been  made  and 
whole  sentences  wrongly  translated. 

He  secured  the  arrest  of  a  Montreal  private  detective,  whom 
he  charged  with  the  abstraction  of  the  letter,  but  as  the  pris- 
oner looked  about  as  much  like  the  man  who  really  got  it  as 
young  Sothern  does  like  BufTalo  Bill  the  case  fell  through. 
The  public  is  familiar  with  the  legal  proceedings  that  followed 
when  the  detective  tried  to  recover  damages  for  false  arrest, 
and  the  subsequent  action  of  the  British  and  Dominion  .gov- 
ernments is  too  recent  to  require  repetition.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary to  say  that  the  letter  gave  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  Span- 
ish-spy service  in  America. 


By  conrtcs.v  of  tlic  editors  of  llic  New  York  Herald,  we  have  the 
j)riviI(>K<'  of  fiiviiin  tln^  above  article. 


WOMEN  WHO  MAKE  FLAGS.  465 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

WOMEN     WHO     MAKK    FLAGS. 

IN  THE  UROOKLYN  NAVY-YARD  THEY  WORKED  NIGHTS,  SUNDAYS 
AND     HOLIDAYS     DURING    THE     WAR. 

Preparing  the  colors  for  which  gallant  warriors  are  to  fight 
seems  to  have  been  essentially  feminine  duty  which  has  ob- 
tained from  very  early  days.  Fan-  ladies  in  the  Middle  Ages 
embroidered  the  banners  under  which  their  knights  fought, 
und  although  tlagmaking  now  is  put  upon  a  business  basis  it 
has'been  the  work  of  women  in  the  United  States  since  the 
first  flag  of  the  country  was  made  down  to  the  present  day. 

During  the  past  war.  tor  three  months  a  large  number  ot 
women  worked  literally  nights,  days  and  Sundays  to  get  ready 
the  emblems  for  which  Uncle  Sam's  men  were  to  fight,  ihe 
Brooklyn  Navy-Yard  has  a  big  flag  manufactory  where  most 
of  the  flags  for  the  navy  are  made,  and  that  means  that  a  great 
many  flags  are  turned  out  there  annually  in  days  of  peace,  to 
say  nothing  of  in  war  times. 

A  lar-e  vessel  carries— many  people  will  be  surprised  to 
know  it-fortv  American  flags.  The  Oregon,  the  Chicago  and 
the  Iowa  all  carry  that  number  of  American  flags,  and  naval 
vessels  fxenerally  carry  from  thirty  to  forty-that  is.  countmg 
the  fourlacks  and  pennants,  but  not  including  the  international 
signal  flags  and  the  flags  of  the  countries  at  which  a  vessel  is 
to  be  stationed,  though  all  of  them  are  made  in  the  big  equip- 
ment building  in  the  Navy- Yard.  _ 

Fla-makinsr  would  not  be  so  much  of  a  business  it  there 
were  no  foreign  flags.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  are  compara- 
tively simple  to  put  together,  but  when  it  comes  to  sewing  a 
^^hole  landscape  and  water  scene  on  a  flag,  to  say  nothing  of 
any  number   of  symbolical   devices   in   more  brilliant   colors 


466  WOMEX  WHO  MAKE  ELAG8. 

than  the  rainbow  ever  dreamed  of  having,  and  putting  the  land 
or  seascape,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  on  two  sides  of  the  flag- 
without  so  much  as  a  stitch  showing  through,  all  in  exact  pro- 
portions, then  there  is  something  to  do  in  making  a  flag. 

There  are  three  rooms  in  the  equipment  building  which  are 
given  up  to  flagmaking.  One  of  these  is  very  large,  and  the 
two  others,  at  either  end,  comparatively  small.  There  are  ma- 
chine sewers  and  hand  sewers,  and,  with  scissors,  pincushions 
and  flatirons  for  pressing  scattered  around,  the  place  does  not 
look  unlike  a  dressmaker's  establishment,  though  the  colors 
of  the  materials  used  are  more  brilliant  than  any  that  would 
be  found  at  any  dressmaker's  this  season. 

Allowing  from  thirty  to  forty  flags  to  a  ship,  and  the  united 
efforts  of  wind  and  weather  to  destroy  them  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, it  will  be  seen  readily  that  fourteen  women — the  regular 
number  employed — could  be  kept  busy  at  all  times  making 
flags;  and  with  a  war  that  necessitated  a  large  number  oi 
new  vessels,  many  of  them  without  flags  to  their  names,  the 
number  of  workers  was  quickly  brought  up  to  seventy  and  the 
working  hours  were  extended  five  hours — from  8  to  lO  instead 
of  from  8  to  5.  When  the  rush  of  work  was  about  over  they 
sent  out  from  the  flag  department  1800  flags  in  one  week. 
What  they  sent  out  in  the  big  rush  days  they  could  not  tell: 
there  was  not  time  then  to  stop  and  count. 

The  greater  number  of  the  regular  flag  workers  have  been 
at  work  there  for  a  number  of  years.  ]\Iiss  Mary  Woods,  who 
is  at  present  in  charge  of  the  department,  has  been  makiniT 
flags  for  sixteen  years.  For  those  who  know  how.  the  flag- 
making  is  not  difficult,  but  to  be  obliged  to  instruct  a  number 
of  women  when  there  was  a  great  rush  was  difficult,  and  some 
of  the  women  who  were  tried  could  not  be  taught.  When 
they  did  get  the  requisite  number  an  entire  loft  in  another 
building  was  taken  in  addition  to  the  rooms  always  in  use. 
There  were  extra  men  for  the  finishing — work  which  men 
always  demand  everyone  was  obliged  to  work  long  hours. 
Sundays  and  holidays.  They  did,  however,  have  Fourth  of 
July,  for  it  would  hardly  have  seemed  right  for  flag  workers 
to  disregard  that  important  day;  but  they  had  worked  through 


WOMEN   WHO  MAKE  FLAds.  467 

Decoration  Day.  There  was  extra  pay  for  all  extra  time  and 
double  pay  for  holidays  and  Sundays,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
patriotic  satisfaction  to  be  taken  in  the  work,  and  no  one 
complained.  There  was  still  a  rush  of  work  after  the  extra 
ships  had  been  equipped,  for  the  regular  work  had  been  neg- 
lected, and  there  was  much  of  that  to  be  done. 

The  men  employed  in  the  Hag  department  cut  the  stars  and 
bias  pennants  and  put  on  the  finishing  touches  and  the  head- 
ing through  which  the  rope  is  run.  They  also  put  in  the 
ropes  and  mark  the  heading  in  stencil  witli  the  nationality  of 
the  flag  and  the  number  which  indicates  the  size.  When  this 
is  done  the  flag  is  rolled,  with  the  heading  and  stencil  marks 
out,  and  sent  to  the  storehouse  ready  for  use. 

The  women  cut  all  the  square  flags  and  the  devices  for  them. 
There  is  a  pattern  for  every  flag,  and  what  may  be  called  a 
flag  fashion  book.  This  is  a  square  book  containing  colored 
illustrations  of  the  tlags  of  the  world.  Most  of  the  flags  are 
bound  into  the  book,  but  when  a  country  has  changed  its  flag 
within  a  few  years  an  original  design  is  made  and  fastened  in. 
All  the  patterns  are  put  away  when  not  in  use,  in  paper  bags, 
each  marked  plainly  on  one  end  with  the  name  and  number, 
which  can  be  plainly  seen  when  the  bag  is  opened.  There  are 
no  specialists  among  the  flagmakers,  and  each  woman  makes 
whatever  flag  may  happen  to  be  given  to  her,  cutting  it  and 
finishing  it  entirely. 

There  is  no  monotony  about  the  work,  for  the  flags  vary 
in  size  and  design.  It  is  pleasant  work;  anyway,  the  flag- 
makers  say  so.  Of  the  American  flags,  of  which  the  greatest 
number  is  made,  there  are  forty-four  flags  in  a  set  of  general 
signals  used  in  the  navy,  and  these  are  in  three  sizes,  with 
the  regular  flag  in  nine  sizes,  ranging  in  number  from  i  to  lO. 
The  first  flag.  No.  i,  is  the  largest,  and  measures  thirty-six 
feet,  while  the  smallest.  No.  lo,  measures  only  thirty  inches. 
There  were  only  eight  flags  at  one  time,  ranging  regularly 
from  the  large  No.  i  to  the  No.  8.  Then  a  very  small  flag 
was  needed  for  the  small  boats,  and  one  two  sizes  shialler 
than  any  then  in  use,  the  No.  lo,  was  made,  and  now  forms 
one  of  the   regular  flags.     There   are   also  the   long,   narrow 


468  WOMEN  WHO  M/\Ji:E  FLAGS. 

pennants  raised  above  the  flag  on  the  homeward-bound  ships. 
and  these  range  in  size  from  No.  i  to  No.  6,  the  former  being 
seventy  feet  long  and  the  latter  six  feet.  A  70-foot  pennant, 
which  is  nothing  but  ribbon  in  width,  is  very  long,  and  the 
40-foot  pennant  is  more  often  used. 

There  are  nineteen  international  signal  flags  and  forty-three 
foreign  flags  that  are  made.  All  of  these  used  in  the  navy  are 
made  in  the  Navy- Yard,  and  most  of  the  American  flags, 
though  a  few  of  these  are  made  at  ]\Iare  Island.  There  is  no 
guesswork  about  the  making  of  a  flag.  Everything  must  be 
done  by  exact  measurement,  and  a  flag  having  two  sides, 
which  must  be  exactly  alike,  makes  the  work  difficult,  par- 
ticularly with  the  foreign  flags,  where  the  devices  have  much 
detail. 

Since  the  rush  of  work  began  in  the  Navy-Yard,  about  April 
or  May,  the  stars  have  been  put  on  the  American  flag  in  a  new 
way  which  is  at  once  better  and  quicker.  The  stars  are  of 
ordinary  white  cotton  cloth,  and  up  to  that  time  they  had  been 
put  on  by  hand,  with  the  edges  neatly  turned  in,  sewed  first 
on  one  side  of  the  blue  field  and  then  on  the  other.  But  that 
was  too  slow  work  when  flags  were  being  turned  out  by  the 
wholesale,  and  what  is  called  a  zigzag  machine  was  purchased. 
This  machine  makes  a  sort  of  cross  stitch,  and  with  it  the  stars 
can  be  sewed  on  both  sides  of  the  flag  at  once.  The  stars  are 
basted  on,  raw  edge,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  bunting,  un- 
der each  star,  is  placed  a  square  piece  of  white  cotton.  The 
cut  star  is  then  sewed  on  with  the  machine,  which,  crossing 
from  one  side  to  the  other  of  the  edge,  holds  it  in  place  neatly, 
and  as  it  does  this  it  also  stitches,  of  course,  the  shape  of  a 
star  on  the  square  piece  of  cloth  which  is  on  the  other  side  of 
the  bunting.  The  cloth  is  cut  away  close  to  the  stitching  and 
the  star  remains.  Thus  two  stars  have  been  sewed  on  instead 
of  one,  and  it  is  all  done  in  a  quarter  of  the  time  it  would  take 
to  do  the  work  by  hand. 

The  devices  on  ordinary  foreign  flags  would  make  the  ordi- 
nary seamstress  despair.  It  is  fancy  work  on  a  large  scale. 
There  are  the  wonderful  landscapes,  with  round-faced  suns 
with   halos  coming  up  from  behind   gay-colored   mountains, 


WOMEN   WnO  MAKE  FLAGFi.  469 

over  which  rainbows  worked  in  four  or  five  lines  of  outline 
or  chain-stitch  in  as  many  different  colors  make  a  scene  which 
would  surprise  an  artist.  Then  there  is  also  water,  which  is 
also  worked  in  with  some  kind  of  embroidery  stitch;  red  lib- 
erty caps,  whole  menageries  of  animals  on  different  flags,  and 
any  number  of  other  things,  all  in  brilliant  colors  of  bunting. 
Many  of  the  devices,  circles  and  scalloped  circles,  being  on 
the  bias,  require  careful  manipulation  to  prevent  stretching, 
and  when  there  were  new  hands  at  work  they  were  given  the 
straight  seams  as  far  as  possible.  All  the  devices  are  run 
around  the  edge,  not  hemmed,  as  this  makes  them  lie  more 
smoothly.  The  work  on  the  flags  must  not  only  be  neatly 
done,  but  it  must  be  strong,  for  the  wind  is  no  respecter  of 
careless  needlework. 

The  flags  of  Costa  Rica  and  San  Salvador  are  considered 
the  most  difificult  to  make,  from  the  elaborateness  of  their  de- 
vices, and  the  German  flag  is  somewhat  difificult,  though  the 
workers  say  they  are  all  easy  when  once  you  know  how.  The 
largest  foreign  flag  is  only  twenty-five  feet.  None  is  made  as 
large  as  the  American  flag  No.  i.  The  largest-sized  flags  are 
made  of  19-inch  bunting,  and  the  narrow  pennants  of  a  nar- 
row 41/2-inch  bunting,  which  comes  on  purpose  for  them. 

Every  flag  that  is  made  is  measured  on  the  floor  after  the 
seams  are  sewed  to  insure  the  exact  measurement.  Th.'^re  are 
metal  pieces  set  into  the  floor,  and  each  one  is  marked  for  the 
different  flags.  For  the  36-foot  flag,  however,  there  is  no 
measure,  and  when  it  is  spread  out  it  covers  nearly  the  whole 
floor  of  the  large  room.  The  United  States  is  not  hiding  her 
light  under  a  bushel  when  one  of  her  warships  is  flying  these 
big  flags  which  the  women  of  Brooklyn  make. 


470  UNIFORMti   HOA'.V  BY  HOLDIfJR.S. 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

UNIFORMS  WORN  BY  UNCLE  SAM'S  AND  SPAIN'S  SOLDIERS. 

.  The  regular  army  of  the  United  States  has  but  2179  officers 
and  2S,3S3  privates  on  its  roll.  By  the  Hull  Reorganization 
bill  its  strength  is  increased  to  61.000.  In  addition  the  Presi- 
dent issued  a  call  for  125,000  volunteers.  The  organized  militia 
force,  according  to  the  report  of  the  Adjutant-General,  was 
114.362,  so  the  volunteer  army  was  made  up  almost  altogether 
of  the  trained  citizen  soldiery. 

The  uniforms  of  the  army  are  very  similar,  being  dis- 
tinguished only  by  the  insignia  of  rank  and  the  different 
divisions. 

On  parade  all  officers  wear  plain,  double-breasted  dark  blue 
coats,  the  generals  alone  having  black  velvet  collars  and  cuffs. 
with  three  buttons  on  them.  Officers  of  the  line  (captains  and 
lieutenants)  have  two  rows  of  buttons  down  the  front  of  the 
coat.  Staff'  officers  have  nine  buttons  in  each  row.  The  rank 
of  the  generals  is  indicated  by  the  number  and  arrangement  of 
the  buttons.  A  general  has  two  rows,  of  twelve  buttons,  in 
four  groups  of  three  each.  A  lieutenant-general  has  two  rows 
of  ten  buttons,  three  buttons  grouped  above  and  below  and 
f,our  between.  A  major-general  has  two  rows  of  nine  buttons, 
in  three  groups  of  three.  A  brigadier-general  has  two  rows 
of  eight  buttons,  arranged  in  pairs.  The  fatigue  coat  of  offi- 
cers is  a  short  jacket,  dark  blue,  with  lie-down  collar,  encircled 
by  five  buttons,  with  three  small  buttons  on  the  sleeves.  Chap- 
lains wear  black  coats,  with  standing  collars,  and  one  row  of 
nine  black  buttons.  The  trousers  of  generals,  officers  of  the 
general's  staff  and  staff  corps  are  dark  blue,  without  stripes; 
for  officers  of  the  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  light  blue, 
with  stripes  one  and  one-half  inches  wide  of  the  color  of  the 


UNIFORMS  WORN  BY  SOLDIERS.  4"! 

corps,  white  for  the  infantry,  yellow  for  the  cavalry,  red  for 

the  artillery. 

On   parade   generals  and  officers   of   the   general   staff   and 
staff  corps  wear  chapeaus  of  black  silk  plush,  with  two  (gen- 
erals three)  black  ostrich  plumes,  gold  clasps  and  a  gold  eagle 
with  two  gold  tassels.    This  hat  is  worn  toward  the  lett,  so  that 
the  end  is  directly  over  the  left  eye.    All  moimted  othcers  ot 
the  infantrv.  cavalry  and  artillery  wear  cork  helmets,  covered 
with  black'cloth  and  a  gilded  metal  eagle,  with  the  number  ol 
the  regiment  in  white  metal  on  the  shields,  chains  under  the 
chin  of  yellow  metal,  cockades,  according  to  the  corps,  yellow, 
red  or  white.     Unmounted  officers  wear  similar  helmets  with-- 
out  cockades.     In  summer  helmets  covered  with  white  cloth 
are  worn.     The  caps  of  the  generals  are  of  dark  blue  cloth, 
with  stripes  of  belt  velvet  and  gold  embroidery  in  front.     The 
caps  of  all  other  officers  are  the  same,  without  the  stripes  ot 
velvet   and  the  mark  of  the  corps  on  the  front.     On  the  gen- 
erals' 'caps  is  a  gold-embroidered  wreath,  surrounded  by  the 
letters  U.  S.  in  silver  embroidery.     The  adjutant-general  has 
a  gold-embroidered  wreath  around  a  silver  shield,  with  thir- 
teen stars  about  it.     The  engineering  corps  has  a  gold-em 
broidered  laurel   wreath  around  a   silver  shield,   representmo- 
three  towers      The  ordnance  corps   has  a  gold-embroidered 
bursting  grenade.     The  signal  corps  has  a  gold-embroidered 
wreath   of  oak   leaves   around   a   silver-embroidered   emblem, 
representing  two  banners  and  a  torch.     All  of  the  stafif  corps 
have  their  caps  decorated  like  the  generals'.     Cavalry  officers 
have    on    their   caps   two    gold-embroidered   crossed    swords, 
with  the  number  of  the  regiment  embroidered  in  silver.   Those 
of  the  artillery  have  two  crossed  cannon,  embroidered  in  gold, 
with  the  number  of  the  regiment  embroidered  in  silver  m  a 
circle  between   them.     Those  of  the  infantry  have  two  rifles 
crossed,   worked    in    gold    and  the  number  of  the  regiment 
worked  in  silver  above.     Epaulets  are  worn  on  parade  only. 
Generals  have  large  epaulets,  witli  heavy  fringes,  metal  cres- 
cents on  a  gold  field.     All  the  other  officers  have  epaulets  with 
twisted  gold  cord  and  cloth  fields  of  the  corps  color. 

The  marks  of  the  various  corps  are:    Adjutant-general's  de- 


472  UNIFORMS   WORN  JU    SOLDlERi^. 

partment,  a  silver  shield,  with  thirteen  stars  between  the 
twisted  cord  knot  in  the  field,  which  is  dark  blue.  The  in- 
spector-general's department  has  an  emblem  consisting  of  a 
sword  and  a  Roman  bill  in  silver  on  a  dark  blue  field.  The 
judiciary  corps  has  a  cannon  and  pen  crossed  in  silver  on  a 
dark  blue  field.  Quartermaster's  department  has  the  letters 
Q.  D.  worked  in  silver  on  a  blue  field.  Commissary  depart- 
ment, S.  D.  worked  in  silver  on  blue.  Medicinal  department, 
M.  D.  in  the  same  way.  Paymaster's  department,  P.  D.  in  the 
same  way.  Engineer's  corps,  a  shield  of  three  towers,  worked 
in  silver  on  blue.  The  ordnance,  a  bursting  grenade  in  silver 
on  blue.  Signal  corps,  two  crossed  banners  and  a  torch  in 
silver  on  blue.  Cavalry,  artillery  and  infantry,  the  number  of 
the  regiment  worked  in  silver  on  fields  of  yellow,  red  or  white, 
respectively.  The  shoulder-straps  for  all  officers  have  cloth 
fields  one-quarter  inch  broad  and  embroidered  edges.  On 
these  shoulder-straps  are  the  marks  of  rank.  The  general  has 
two  silver  stars  and  an  eagle  embroidered  in  gold.  The  lieu- 
tenant-general has  three  stars  embroidered  in  silver,  the  middle 
one  being  slightly  larger  than  the  others.  The  major-general 
has  two  stars  embroidered  in  silver:  the  brigadier-general  a 
single  silver  star  in  the  middle  of  the  field.  The  captain  has 
four  lines  in  silver,  two  at  each  end  of  the  shoulder-strap;  the 
first  lieutenant  has  one  line  on  each  end;  the  second  lieutenant 
has  a  plain  shoulder-strap. 

Generals  alone  wear  scarfs,  and  these  are  of  light  yellow 
silk,  the  brigadier-general  wearing  his  around  the  waist,  while 
the  generals  of  higher  rank  have  them  over  the  right  shoulder. 
The  sword-belts  are  buckled  over  the  coat.  Those  of  the  gen- 
erals are  of  red  leather,  with  three  rows  of  gold  embroidery: 
those  of  the  stafT  officers  are  of  black  lacquered  leather,  with 
a  single  broad  stripe  of  gold;  those  of  officers  of  infantry,  ar- 
tillery and  cavalry  are  of  black  leather,  with  four  rows  of  gold 
and  three  rows  of  silk  the  color  of  the  corps. 

The  uniforms  of  the  privates  are  all  of  the  same  pattern. 
The  coat  of  the  infantry  for  dress  parade  is  dark  blue, 
with  a  row  of  buttons,  standing  collars  of  white  cloth, 
six   buttons    on    the   breast,    shoulder-straps   of   white    cloth, 


UNIFORMf^   WORX  BY  fiOLDTER^.  473 

with  a  small  button  on  each;  white  cloth  cuffs,  with  three  but- 
tons. The  fatigue  coat  is  a  dark  blue  blouse,  with  lie-down 
collar,  having  a  row  of  five  buttons  and  three  small  buttons  on 
the  sleeves.    This  serves  for  all  the  various  corps. 

The  foot  and  unmounted  artillery  have  the  same  dress  coat 
as  the  infantry,  but  scarlet  cloth  collar,   shoulder-straps  and 

cufifs. 

The  engineer  corps  is  the  same  as  the  artillery,  but  the 
shoulder-straps  and  cufifs  have  white  facings.  The  ordnance 
corps,  same  as  engineers,  but  dark  red  collars,  cuffs  and  shoul- 
der-straps. 

The  cavalry  coat  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  infantry,  but 
shorter;  it  has  only  four  buttons  on  the  breast;  collar,  shoul- 
der-straps and  cufTs  are  yellow.  Light  and  mounted  artillery, 
like  the  cavalry,  with  red  collar,  cuffs,  etc.  The  trumpeters 
the  same  as  the  corps  to  which  they  belong. 

The  privates  of  all  the  corps  wear  light  blue  trousers  and 
stripes  the  color  of  their  shoulder-straps,  and  dark  blue  caps, 
with  the  marks  of  their  corps  and  letter  of  the  company  in 
brass. 

UNIFORMS  WORN  BY  OFFICERS  AND  MEN  WHO   MAKE  UP  SPAIN's 

ARMY. 

The  total  war  strength  of  the  Spanish  army  is  estimated  to 
be  1,500,000.     The  regular  army   counts  but  83,000  men,  the 
first  reserve  160,000  and  the  second  reserve,  called  out  only 
in  the  last  extremity,    i,ooo,coo.      Over  200,000  soldiers  have 
been  sent  to   Cuba,  but  of  these  hardly  more  than  half  arc 
ready  for  service.     Of  the  regular  army,  64,000  form  the  in- 
fantry,   14,000  the   cavalry,    11,000   the   artillery   and   5000  the 
engineering  corps.     The   infantry  is  armed  with  the   Mauser 
276-caliber  magazine  rifle,  holding  five  cartridges.     The  cav- 
alry carries  swords  and  Mauser  rifles,  the  Uhlans  (lanceros) 
having  lances  six  feet  long  and  revolvers.     The  artillery  has 
Krupp  rifled  breechloading  rifles  of  different  sizes. 

The  ofncers  on  the  general's  staff  wear  dark  blue  military 
coats,  with  lapeis  and  collars  of  the  same,  the  latter  embroid- 


474  VWIFOKMl^  WOh'N  BY  SOLDIERS. 

ercd  in  gold,  dark  blue  trousers,  with  light  blue  stripes  and 
scarfs  of  light  blue  silk.  The  "ros"  white,  with  a  light  blue 
plume  on  gala  occasions. 

The  infantry  has  a  dark  blue  military  coat,  with  a  red  collar 
and  lapels  and  yellow  buttons.  The  trousers  are  red,  with 
dark  blue  double  stripes.  The  "ros"  is  gray,  with  a  red  cock- 
ade, and  the  cloak  blue,  with  red  seams  and  cuffs.  Instead  of 
high  boots,  black  gaiters  are  worn.  The  infantry  officers  wear 
pelisse-shaped  coats  with  seven  rows  of  black  cord  on  the 
front.  The  foot  chasseurs  also  wear  dark  blue  coats,  but  have 
green  lapels,  collars  and  cuffs  and  yellow  buttons.  Their 
trousers  are  red,  with  dark  blue  double  stripes.  The  cloak  has 
green  cuffs  and  their  "ros"  green  cockades.  The  Spanish 
cavalry  have  various  divisions,  each  with  a  distinctive  uni- 
form. The  Uhlans  (lanceros)  wear  light  blue  coats,  with  two 
rows  of  six  white  buttons  down  the  front.  Their  collars,. cuffs 
and  shoulder  flaps  are  of  the  same  material,  with  white  trim- 
ming. The  trousers  are  light  blue,  with  white  stripes,  and 
they  have  steel  helmets,  with  white  buckles.  On  their  lances 
they  carry  streamers  of  red  and  yellow.  The  dragoons  have 
light  blue  coats,  with  five  rows  of  black  cord  across  the  breast 
and  black  edging.  Their  collars  and  cuffs  are  red  and  buttons 
white  metal.  The  trousers  red,  with  light  blue  stripes,  and 
the  steel  helmets  have  yellow  buckles.  The  mounted  chas- 
seurs have  light  blue  pelisse-shaped  coats,  with  black  trim- 
mings like  the  dragoons,  red  collars  and  cuffs  and  red  trousers 
with  light  blue  stripes,  also  like  them.  But  in  place  of  the 
steel  helmets  they  wear  light  blue  shakos,  with  a  white  tuft 
on  gala  days.  There  are  two  divisions  of  hussars,  those  of 
"the  Princess"  and  of  Pavia.  The  former  wear  light  blue 
cloaks,  with  numerous  strips  of  lace  across  the  breast  and 
similar  Hungarian  lacings  on  the  sleeves.  Tight  light  blue 
trousers  with  yellow  stripes  and  a  pelisse  of  white  cloth, 
trimmed  with  black  fur,  white  shakos,  with  yellow  buckles. 
The  hussars  of  Pavia  have  red  cloaks  with  light  blue  pointed 
cuffs.  The  lace  used  is  yellow,  and  the  tight  trousers  are  light 
blue,  with  yellow  stripes.     The  pelisse  is  of  light  blue  cloth, 


UyiFORMS  WORN  BY  HOLDIER^.  475 

with  yellow  lace  and  black  fur  trimming,  red  shakos  and  yel- 
low buckles. 

The  royal  escort  which  accompanies  the  Queen  Regent  and 
the  King  in  their  rowal  progresses  have  dark  blue  md.tary 
coats  with  red  lapels  and  white  buttons,  silver  epaulets  and 
.ilver  lace  trimmings,  steel  helmets,  with  yellow  buckles  and 
white  horsehair  tufts  for  gala  days  and  white  leather  belts. 
On  parade  they  also  wear  cuirasses  and  dark  blue  dress  coats, 
with  red  lapels,  and  red  vests  buttoned  in  the  front,  white 
trousers  and  high  boots.  The  artillery  have  dark  blue  military. 
coats,  with  lapels  and  collars  of  the  same  color,  yellow  but- 
tons,'dark  blue  trousers,  with  red  stripes,  and  white  "ros,  or 
cap   together  with  white  leather  belts. 

The  engineering  corps  have  dark  bkie  coats,  collars  and 
lapels,  white  buttons,  dark  blue  trousers,  with  red  double 
stripes,  white  caps  and  belts. 

The  administration  corps  have  dark  blue  coats,  with  blue 
cufTs  and  red  collars,  blue  trousers,  with  red  stripes,  white 
caps  and  black  leather  belts. 

The  carabineers  have  dark  blue  coats,  with  red  collars,  and 
yellow  buttons,  and  dark  blue  trousers,  with  red  stripes.  The 
coats  worn  by  their  officers  have  black  cord  across  the  breasts, 
white  caps  and  black  leather  belts. 

The  gendarmes  (guardia  civil)  have  dark  blue  coats,  with 
red  collars  and  cuffs,  and  two  rows  of  white  buttons,  dark 
blue  trousers,  three-cornered  hats  and  leather  belts  of  the 
natural  color.  The  mounted  gendarmes  wear  on  parade  blue 
dress  coats,  with  red  cuffs  and  lapels,  and  red  vests  buttoned 
on,  white  riding  trousers  and  high  boots. 

The  halberdiers  (palace  guards)  wear  frock  coats  of  dark  blue 
cloth,  with  white  collars  and  red  lapels,  dark  blue  trousers, 
with  red  stripes,  and  three-cornered  hats.  On  parade  the  coat 
has  strips  of  red  cloth  buttoned  across  the  front,  red  vest, 
white  trousers  and  high  boots. 

The  sanitary  corps  have  dark  blue  coats,  with  lapels  and 
cuffs  of  the  same,  yellow  buttons,  dark  blue  trousers,  with 
double  red  stripes,  and  white  caps. 


47(1  UNIFORMt^   WORN  BY  fi<yLDTERf^. 

The  detailed  division  of  the  troops  of  the  Spanish  army  is  as 
follows: 

INFANTRY. 

Two  companies  of  Royal  Palace  Guards  (halberdiers),  56 
regiments  of  the  line,  2  battalions.  4  companies  in  each;  20 
battalions  of  chasseurs,  4  companies  in  each;  4  district  regi- 
ments in  Ceuta  and  Mellila,  i  disciplinary  battalion  in  Mellila. 
2  district  regiments  in  the  Canary  Islands,  58  reserve  infantry 
regiments,  6  reserve  infantry  regiments  in  the  Canary  Islands. 
Strength  of  the  infantry  in  peace,  64,000;  strength  of  the  in- 
fantry in  war,  240,000. 

CAVALRY. 

One  squadron  Royal  Escort,  8  regiments  of  Uhlans  (lan- 
ceros),  numbered  1-8:  4  regiments  of  dragoons,  numbered  9- 
12;  14  regiments  of  chasseurs,  numbered  13-18  and  21-28;  2 
regiments  of  hussars,  numbered  19,  20;  i  squadron  of  chas- 
seurs in  Mallorca  (Balearic  Islands);  i  squadron  of  chasseurs 
in  Ceuta:  14  cavalry  regiments  in  reserve.  Calvary  strength 
in  peace,  14,000  (1000  horses):  cavalry  strength  in  war,  27,000 
(22,000  horses). 

ARTILLERY. 

Five  regiments  of  field  artillery  (4  batteries  each,  9-cm.  guns; 

2  mounted  batteries  accompany  two  of  the  field  artillery  regi- 
ments; 9  regiments  of  field  artillery  (4  batteries  each),  8-cm. 
guns;  2  regiments  of  artillery  (for  mountain  warfare,  4  bat- 
teries each),  8-cm.  guns;  9  regiments  of  fortification  artillery, 

3  in  6  companies,  6  in  4  companies;  7  companies  of  mechanics, 
7  reserve  stations.  Artillery  strength  in  peace,  11,000  (3800 
horses);  in  war,  60  companies  of  garrison  artillery,  49,000. 


UNIFORMS  WORN  BY  SOLDIERS.  477 

ENGINEERING     CORPS. 

Four  regiments  of  sappers  and  miners,  2  battalions  in  2 
companies  for  each;  i  district  company  of  mmers  in  Balearic 
Islands  I  pontoon  regiment,  in  4  companies;  i  railway  bat- 
talion in  4  companies;  i  telegraph  battalion,  in  4  companies; 
I  topographical  brigade,  i  section  mechanics.  Strength  or 
engineer  corps  in  peace.  5000;  strength  of  engineer  corps  in 

war,  12,000. 

The  gendarmes  have  130  companies  on  toot  and  15  com- 
panies mounted-1400  in  all.  The  carabineers  have  30  regi- 
ments on  foot  and  7  regiments  mounted-14,000  in  all.  1  he 
sanitary  corps  counts  750  in  peace,  4830  m  war. 


4T8  MUSTERIXG   OUT   THE  ARMY. 


CHAPTER    L. 

MUSTERIXG     OU'J'    THE     AKMY. 

T-TOW  THE  GREAT  ORGANIZATION  OF  VOLUNTEERS  WILL  BE  DIS- 
BANDED— A  STUPENDOUS  TASK,  WHICH  WILL  TAKE  SEVERAL 
MONTHS  TO   COMPLETE. 

Immediately  alter  the  surrender  ot  Lee  to  Grant  the  United 
States  Government  began  to  return  to  Uie  peace  establishment. 
The  work  of  the  vast  army  ot  men  from  the  North  was  about 
over  and  their  mustering  out  was  soon  to  take  place.  Four' 
days  after  this  surrender  Secretary  of  War  Stanton  issued 
orders  stopping  all  draftmg  and  recruiting,  curtailing  the 
purchase  of  arms  and  supplies  and  reducing  the  number  of 
general  and  stafif  officers. 

Before  the  close  of  April,  1865,  preparations  were  made  for 
mustering  out  the  volunteers.  Because  of  the  great  number 
of  men  in  the  service  this  took  considerable  time.  Up  to  Aug- 
ust 7  of  that  year  640,806  men  had  been  mustered  out;  on  the 
14th  of  September  that  number  had  been  increased  to  741,107, 
and  by  November  15  900,000  were  returned  to  private  life. 

Before  these  men  could  be  stripped  of  their  martial  connec- 
tions it  was  necessary  to  balance  the  account  of  each  with  the 
government,  pay  him  what  was  due  him  and  then  present  him 
with  an  honorable  discharge. 

Now  that  the  war  with  Spain  is  ended  a  majority  of  the  vol- 
unteers are  ready  to  leave  the  service  that  presents  in  the  future 
nothing  more  exciting  for  them  than  garrison  duty,  and  return 
to  civil  life.  They  are  as  anxious  to  be  mustered  out  as  they 
were  to  enlist,  now  that  their  duty  has  been  performed. 

With  the  signing  of  the  protocol  came  thoughts  of  home 
to  the  absent  volunteer,  and  those  at  home  began  to  look  anx- 
iously to  the  time  when  he   should  be  able  to  return.     This 


MUSTERIXG  OUT  THE  ARMY.  479 

time  will  not  be  long,  for  orders  have  already  been  issued  to 
muster  out  of  the  service  such  volunteer  organizations  as  are 
not   needed   for   garrison   duty   in    Cuba,   Porto   Rico   or   the 

Philippines. 

Under  the  present  regulations  the  work  of  makmg  private 
citizens  out  of  soldiers  will  take  considerably  more  time  than 
it  did  after  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Since  then  the  methods 
of  the  War  Department  have  been  changed  considerably,  and 
there  is  an  increased  amount  of  what  is  called  "red  tape.' 
While  the  necessity  of  this  may  not  appear  to  the  average 
civilian  its  value  is  appreciated  by  the  army  officers,  who  are  in 
charge  of  the  records  of  the  War  Department.  One  departure 
that^seems  strange  to  the  veteran  of  the  60s  is  the  order  that 
each  volunteer  shall  have  to  stand  another  physical  examina- 
tion, such  as  he  went  through  at  the  time  of  his  enlistment. 
Of  this  more  will  be  said  later. 

Previous   to   the   muster   out   officers   and   men    who   have 
served  outside  the  United  States  will  be  granted  leaves  of  ab- 
sence and  furloughs  for  sixty  days,  while  tjiose  who  have  not 
served  beyond  the   confines  of  this   country   will  be   granted 
leaves  of  absence  and  furloughs  limited  to  thirty  days.     This 
is  the  sense  of  a  general  order  issued  by  the  War  Department. 
Before  military  organizations  are  granted  leaves  of  absence 
it  will  be  necessary  for  them  to  carry  out  the  preparations  for 
the  muster  out,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  inspection  and  cor- 
rection 6\  records,  inspection  and  transfer  of  such  public  prop- 
erty as  may  be  no  longer  required,  the  preparation  and  com- 
parison of  property  returns,  the  securing  of  certificates  of  non- 
indebtedness  and  the  return  of  absentees.     During  the  time 
that  the  volunteers  are  away  on  furlough  they  will  be  paid  m 
full   with  the  addition  of  twenty^five  cents  per  day  per  man  in 
lieu  of  rations.     This  is  virtually  a  vacation  that  Uncle  Sam 
gives  his  boys,  to  show  his  appreciation. of  their  loyalty  and 

hard  work.  ,,     «- 

At  the  etid  af  their  respective  leaves  of  absence  all  otticers 
and  men  are  expected  to  return  to  their  State  rendezvous, 
where  the  final  work  of  mustering  them  out  will  be  done.  Any 
ofificer  or  man  failing  to  report  there  will  be  considered  a  de- 


480  MUSTERING  OtJT  THE  ARMY. 

serter.  Sickness  is  tlie  only  excuse  that  will  be  allowed  a 
soldier  for  not  appearing  at  the  appointed  time.  If  for  any 
reason  anyone  of  the  rank  and  file  absent  on  leave  is  unable 
to  rejoin  his  command,  a  full  report  of  the  facts  must  be  made 
to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army  for  further  orders. 

Officers  of  the  regular  army  are  entrusted  with  the  work  of 
mustering  out  the  volunteers,  usually  one  to  each  regiment  or 
other  organization.  Men  are  detailed  from  each  company  to 
assist  them  in  the  work  of  transferring  government  property, 
preparing  physical  record  blanks,  correcting  and  completing 
the  organization  records,  statements  of  charges  and  muster- 
out  rolls. 

Officers  who  were  at  any  time  responsible  for  public  prop- 
erty of  any  description  must  obtain  certificates  of  non-indebt- 
edness before  their  final  payment  can  be  made. 

Orders  have  been  issued  to  the  commanding  ofScers  of  regi- 
ments that  are  to  be  mustered  out  to  forward  a  complete  list 
of  all  the  officers  of  their  respective  commands  to  the  paymas 
ter-general,  quart^master-general,  commissary-general  of 
subsistence,  surgeon-general,  chief  of  engineers,  chief  of  ord- 
nance and  chief  signal  officer,  who  are,  or  at  any  time  have 
been,  responsible  for  public  property.  This  will  enable  each 
department  to  check  up  and  ascertain  the  correctness  of  indi- 
vidial  reports.  From  these  corrected  returns  the  paymaster- 
general  will  be  able  to  decide  the  amount  of  money  due  each 
officer. 

Under  the  supervision  of  the  mustering  officers  five  muster- 
out  rolls  will  be  prepared  by  comm.anding  officers.  Everj 
man  in  the  different  organizations  must  appear  on  the  rolls  of 
the  muster  out.  As  soon  as  these  duplicate  rolls  are  com- 
pleted they  will  be  examined  by  a  board  of  officers,  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  commanding  officer.  A  full  comparison  will 
be  made  to  bring  about  absolute  correctness. 

Honorable  discharge  certificates  w-ill  be  filled  out  for  every 
officer  and  man,  present  or  absent,  except  those  held  in  ser- 
vice by  proper  authority  and  deserters.  These  certificates  will 
be  signed  by  the  regimental  commanding  officer  for  the  field, 
staff  and  band,  and  by  company  commanders  for  their  com- 


MUSTERING  OUT  THE  ARMY.  481 

panics.  At  the  time  of  departure  all  discharges  will  be  coun- 
tersigned by  the  mustering  officer.  Finally,  these  papers  wUl 
be  stamped  and  signed  by  the  paymaster  ar.d  returned  to  the 
regimental  and  company  commanders  for  final  distribution^ 

Enlisted  men  absent  on  account  of  sickness,  who  are  unable 
to  join  their  command,  will  be  taken  care  of.  Their  discharge 
papers,  with  carefully-prepared  descriptive  lists  of  pay  and 
clothing  accounts,  giving  the  address  of  the  soldier,  vvill  be 
sent  to  the  proper  officer,  and  the  former  will  be  notified  to 
apply  by  letter  to  the  paymaster-general  for  final  payment. 

When  soldiers  are  absent  on  detached  service  descriptive 
lists  will  be  sent  to  officers  under  whom  they  are  serving,  and 
when  such  men  are  to  be  mustered  out  the  proper  officers  will 
prepare  and  sign  discharge  certificates.  Officers  absent  from 
any  cause  will  be  furnished  discharge  certificates,  and  will  be 
notified  to  apply  to  the  paymaster-general  for  certificates  of 
non-indebtedness  and  settlement  of  their  accounts. 

Every  other  detail  having  been  completed,  a  physical  exam- 
ination of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be  discharged  will  be 
made  by  a  medical  officer  of  the  regular  or  volunteer  army. 
This  will  be  done  to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  pension  claims 
on  account  of  disability  incurred  in  the  United  States  service 
and  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  men  who  may  be  entitled  to 
the  benefits  of  the  pension  laws,  as  well  as  to  guard  the  in- 
terests of  the  government.  This  examination  will  not  extend 
to  general  officers  and  officers  of  the  general  staff. 

\ny  soldier  who  claims  to  have  a  disability  of  which  the 
medical  officer  can  find  no  evidence  will  not  receive  his  dis- 
charge until  a  board  consisting  of  three  medical  officers,  con- 
vened by  the  adjutant-general,  has  thoroughly  examined  him. 
If  these  three  fail  to  agree  a  separate  minority  report  will  be 
•  required  of  the  dissenting  officer. 

After  the  physical  examinations  have  been  completed  all 
regimental  and  company  records  and  the  colors  will  be  packed 
and  shipped  to  the  adjutant-general,  and  the  ordnance  and 
other  public  property  in  possession  of  the  organization  will 
be  turned  over  to  the  officers  of  the  several   supply  depart- 


482  MUSTERING   01  T  THE  ARMY. 

merits  of  the  army.     Then  the  men  will  be  paraded  by  com- 
panies, paid  off  and  handed  their  discharge  papers. 

It  has  been  provided  that  any  volunteer  who.  upon  being 
mustered  out.  wishes  to  keep  his  arms  and  accoutrements  may 
do  so.  their  value  being  deducted  from  the  amount  due  him 
from  the  government. 


ACCURACY  OF  MODERX  GUNS.  483 


CHAPTER    LI. 
ACCURACY    OF    MODEUX    GUNS. 

AIMING   A   TWELVE-INCH    MONSTER    A    MARVEL   OF    ENGINEERING 
— HOW   THE    RANGE    IS    OBTAINED. 

The  accuracy  of  modern  rifled  guns  is  one  of  the  wonders 
that  is  appreciated  by  a  comparatively  few  persons.  It  can 
be  readily  appreciated  how  a  man  with  a  small  rifle  can  be- 
come an  expert  marksman,  but  to  shoot  accurately  with  a  big- 
six,  eight  or  12-inch  gun  is  a  marvel  of  modern  engineering. 
Accuracy  with  big  guns  is  comparatively  modern.  In  days 
gone  by,  when  in  a  naval  conflict  broadsides  were  poured  at 
the  enemy,  it  was  not  so  much  due  to  the  sure  eye  of  the  gun- 
ner as  it  was  to  luck.  Of  recent  years,  however,  the  gunners 
on  board  naval  vessels  have  been  aided  by  a  scientific  device 
known  as  a  range-finder. 

Lieutenant  Fiske,  of  the  United  States  navy,  invented  the 
first  and  best  device  of  this  kirJ  known.  It  is  based  on  the 
principle  of  land  surveying  with  a  transit  and  engineering 
chain.  If  a  surveying  party  comes  to  a  broad  river  whose 
width  has  to  be  determined,  a  base  line  is  measured  along 
the  bank,  and  the  angles  which  this  line  makes  with  a  mark 
on  the  opposite  bank  are  measured  by  the  transit.  Then, 
knowing  the  length  of  the  base  line  and  the  two  angles,  the 
distance  across  the  river  can  be  determined  by  trigonometry. 
Applying  this  to  the  range-finder,  a  base  line  is  carefully 
measured  between  two  points  near  opposite  ends  of  the  ship, 
and  over  each  point  a  range-finder,  answering  to  the  engi- 
neer's transit,  is  permanently  set  up.  If  the  telescopes  of  the 
two  finders  are  simultaneously  converged  upon  the  same 
point  on  a  distant  object  (ship,  fortress  or  city)  the  observers 
will  be  in  possession  of  the  trigonometrical  data  necessary  to 


484  ACCURACY  OF  MODERN  GUNS. 

compute  the   distance,    namely,    the   base   and   the   two   base 
angles. 

In  the  din,  hurry  and  slaughter  of  a  sea  fight,  however,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  make  the  necessary  calculations,  as  the 
distance  between  the  ships,  and  therefore  the  obser\fed  angles, 
keeps  changing,  and  m  order  to  make  the  determination  of  the 
distance  automatic  Lieutenant  Fiske  placed  his  telescopes  in 
the  circuit  of  a  Wheatstone  bridge  and  caused  their  change 
of  position  to  record  the  distance  of  the  object  on  the  gradu- 
ated scale  of  a  delicate  galvanometer.  All  that  was  now  nec- 
essary was  for  the  observers  at  the  two  range-finders  to  keep 
the  cross-hairs  of  the  telescope  upon  the  same  point  of  the 
ship,  and  the  electric  current  translated,  as  it  were,  the  angles 
into  distances  and  recorded  them  by  the  movement  of  a  needle 
over  an  arc  graduated  into  hundreds  and  thousands  of  yards. 
In  a  recent  test  made  with  two  shots  it  was  found  that  both 
projectiles  fell  within  thirty  yards  of  each  other  after  traveling 
a  distance  of  twelve  miles. 

Gun  drill  aboard  a  man-of-war  involves  the  handling  of  the 
large  guns  or  cannon,  whether  on  broadside  or  in  turret.  Each 
of  these  class  of  guns  have  a  crew.  The  number  comprising 
the  same  varies  according  to  the  size  and  kind  of  guns  they 
are  to  man.  However,  in  a  broadside  rapid-fire  gun  using  a" 
projectile  weighing  seven  pounds  five  men  are  the  usual  num- 
ber. They  are  designated  alongside  of  the  piece  according 
to  their  requirements  in  handling  the  gun.  In  the  small  pieces 
the  crew  in  answering  to  their  names  when  assembled  respond 
to  No.  I,  captain  and  loader;  No.  2,  sponger:  No.  3,  shellman; 
No.  4,  checkman;  No.  5,  powder-man.  At  the  primary  order 
"Let  loose  and  provide!"  the  gun  cover  is  removed,  the  firing 
apparatus  adjusted,  a  box  containing  the  necessary  imple- 
ments laid  upon  the  deck  at  the  rear  and  left  of  the  gun 
mount — in  fact,  everything  is  prepared  in  readiness  to  proceed 
with  the  drill,  which  continues  with  the  order  "Sponge!"  The 
mechanism  is  thrown  open  and  that  and  the  bore  of  the  piece 
carefully  sponged  out.  "Load"  follows.  The  powder-man 
passes  the  projectile,  which  resembles  a  huge  cartridge,  to 
the  loader,  and  then  closes  the  breech.     .A.t  the  order  "Point!" 


ACCURACY  OF  MODERN  OUN^.  4^5 

the  gun  is  elevated  and  trained  or  depressed  so  many  degrees, 
according  to  the  distance  and  location  'of  the  object  to  be 
fired  upon  as  calculated  by  the  range-finder.  Its  checkman 
then  locks  the  gun  at  the  next  position  ordered.  "Ready!" 
is  the  next  and  cautionary  order,  and  then  men  stand  aside 
awaiting  the  command  "Fire!"  When  it  is  given  either  the 
officer  in  charge  or  the  gun-captain,  with  his  shoulder  pressed 
against  the  firing  elbow  and  his  finger  touching  the  trigger, 
discharges  the  gun  and  the  projectile,  with  a  humming  sound, 
takes  flight  on  its  errand  of  destruction  or  instruction,  which- 
ever the  case  may  be. 


486  ROCKET  TORPEDO  GUN. 


CHAPTER    LII. 
ROCKET    TORPEDO    GUN. 

MOST  DESTRUCTIVE  IMPLEMENTS  OF  NAVAL  WAR — REAR-AD- 
MIRAL HOWELL  HAS  MADE  SOME  EXPERIMENTS  THAT  MAY 
SOON  BE  TESTED — EFFECTS  OF  A  ''SURE  SIIOT"  ON  A  MOD- 
ERN  WARSHIP. 

The  awful  destruction  of  the  battleship  Maine  by  means  of 
high  explosives  is  destined  to  have  an  important  influence  in 
naval  warfare.  The  lesson  that  it  teaches  will  stimulate  active 
experiment  in  new  fields,  which  must  result  in  important  in- 
ventions of  new  death-dealing  instruments.  That  gunpowder 
has  reached  the  greatest  limit  of  its  possibilities  must  be  ac- 
cepted, and  the  advancement  of  engines  of  war  in  the  future 
must  be  along  the  line  of  high  explosives.  How  to  use  them 
with  safety  and  accuracy  is  the  question. 

The  guns  of  the  Vesuvius  type  have  not  fulfilled  the  require- 
ments by  a  great  deal.  The  Sims-Dudley  dynamite  gun, 
though  an  advance,  has  not  answered  the  purpose.  The  prob- 
lem still  remains  to  be  settled.  The  friends  of  the  new  gun 
which  is  building  at  the  Driggs-Seabury  Gun  &  Ammunition 
Co.  claim  that  it  will  accomplish  the  two  ends.  Its  tests  as 
soon  as  it  can  be  completed  will  be  followed  with  great  inter- 
est. The  gun  is  the  mvention  of  Rear-Admiral  J.  A.  Howell, 
of  the  United  States  navy,  whose  automobile  torpedo  was  so 
effective,  and  his  name  in  conjunction  with  it  certainly  insures 
a  measure  of  success. 

Rear-Admiral  Howell  has  been  conducting  experiments  for 
several  years  to  improve  the  Vesuvius'  guns  and  obviate  the 
diiificulties  which  they  present.  He  believes  that  the  only 
means  by  which  a  safe,  accurate  and  effective  gun  can  be  se- 
cured is  by  embodying  in  the  projectile  the  two-fold  character 


ROCKET   TORPEDO   OFX.  487 

of  piece  and  projectile:  tliat  is.  to  have  it  receive  impulse  ironi 
forces  residing  within  itself.  Upon  these  lines  he  has  worked 
until  he  has  evolved  a  gun  which  will  speed  a  rocket  contain- 
ing the  explosive  with  the  accuracy  of  a  rifle  ball.  He  believed 
the  rocket  must  be  made  to  revolve  with  the  same  rotary  mo- 
tion of  a  steel  projectile  hurled  from  an  ordinary  gun.  To  do 
this  the  enormous  pressure  of  twenty  tons  to  a  scjuare  inch 
would  be  required  in  an  ordinary  gun.  Such  a  force  would 
detonate  any  mass  of  high  explosive  at  the  instant  of  dis- 
charge. He  therefore  conceived  the  idea  of  revolving  both 
the  gun  and  the  charge.  The  projectile,  consisting,  in  the  lo- 
inch  caliber,  of  lOO  pounds  of  gun-cotton,  is  encased  in  a  thin 
metal  envelope,  the  rear  end  of  which  contains  rocket  com- 
position and  the  head  of  a  percussion  fuse,  which  is  set  in 
action  by  the  force  of  the  impact.  This  is  placed  in  the  gun. 
and  when,  by  a  mechanical  contrivance,  it  has  been  spun  up 
to  2500  revolutions  per  minute,  a  friction  cap  ignites  the  rocket 
composition,  and  the  banked-up  pressure  at  the  base  starts 
the  rocket.  This,  then,  begins  its  fliglit  with  a  rotary  motion 
corresponding  to  that  of  the  gun.  The  fact  that  this  motion 
is  due  to  neither  the  resistance  of  the  atmosphere  against  vanes 
nor  to  the  escape  of  a  part  of  the  propelling  gas  from  a  num- 
ber of  vents,  gives  it  great  range,  velocity  and.  above  all,  per- 
fect accuracy,  while  the  absence  of  anj'  initial  shock  of  dis- 
charge renders  it  absolutely  safe. 

The  heaviest  war  rocket  fired  from  the  new  Howell  gun  will 
weigh  300  pounds,  the  range  will  be  about  3000  yards,  and  its 
accuracy  almost  equal  to  that  of  a  rifle  projectile.  The  piece, 
though  it  cannot  be  called  a  high-angle-fire  gun,  nor  one  of 
point-blank  range,  is  between  the  mortar  and  the  rifle.  The 
new  gun  can  be  used  in  both  offensive  and  defensive  opera- 
tions, ashore  or  afloat. 

The  enemy  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  a  large  fleet 
that  has  engaged  the  Sandy  Hook  batteries,  and,  either 
through  the  smoke  and  confusion  of  battle,  or  some  other 
chance  of  war,  has  succeeded  in  passing  the  fort,  clearing  the 
channel  of  torpedoes  by  countermining,  and  is  speeding  for 
the  Narrows,  from  which  point  she  expects  to  make  of  New 


488  ROCKET  TORPEDO  GUN. 

York  a  mass  of  smoking  ruins.  She  has  not  reckoned  well, 
however,  for,  owing  to  great  drafts  of  water,  the  battleship 
is  compelled  to  follow  the  tortuous  main  ship  channel,  which 
brings  her  within  range  of  the  new  weapons  of  destruction 
mounted  on  the  point  at  Coney  Island. 

The  decks  of  the  enemy  are  cleared  to  fight  the  forts  that 
mark  the  harbor  entrance,  for  the  insignificant  little  pieces  on 
the  white  sands  of  New  York's  pleasure  ground  have  not  en- 
gaged the  serious  attention  of  the  commander.  The  great 
guns  of  his  main  battery,  though  pointed  in  that  direction, 
have  not  deemed  them  worthy  of  a  single  broadside.  This  he 
reserves  for  the  more  difficult  task  of  silencing  the  forts  of  the 
Narrows.  A  report  little  louder  than  that  of  a  toy  pistol, 
however,  at  last  attracts  his  attention — and,  before  he  has  time 
to  reply  with  even  one  of  his  rapid-fire  guns,  a  number  of  steel 
cylinders  are  hissing  and  sputtering  through  the  smoky  at- 
mosphere. With  accelerating  velocity  they  rise  as  high  as 
the  foremast-head,  then  turn  their  noses  downward,  and,  with 
unerring  aim,  one  of  them  crashes  into  his  starboard  side  for- 
ward, tearing  away  the  armored  plates  and  leaving  a  hole 
through  which  rush  the  waters  of  the  bay.  Another  falls  a 
little  astern,  too  far  away  to  do  its  work  of  destruction, 
though  the  concussion  shakes  the  ponderous  fighting  machine 
from  stem  to  stern,  disables  her  steering  gear  and  puts  her 
engines  out  of  line.  The  guns  from  the  forts  at  the  Narrows 
now  open  fire  at  long  range,  and  after  a  few  well-directed  shots 
a  white  flag  is  seen  floating  at  the  masthead — and  New  York 
is  saved. 
The  new  gun  may  be  briefly  described  as  follows: 
The  field  piece  consists  of  a  cylindrical  tube  forming  the 
main  body,  which  is  separate  from  the  part  containing  the 
breech.  The  gun  is  supported  by  steel  framework,  the  rear 
end  of  which  carries  the  breech  portion,  and  the  front  forms 
the  forward  half  of  the  muzzle  ball  bearings,  the  other  half 
consisting  of  a  ring  shrunk  upon  the  main  tube  near  the  muz- 
zle. Since  the  bore  is  perfectly  concentric  with  the  breech 
cavity,  the  gun  can  be  loaded  without  absolutely  bringing  the 
main  tube  to  rest. 


ROCKET  TORPEDO  GUN.  489 

In  this  type  the  gun  is  rotated  by  means  of  gear  and  sprocket 
^,:heels— similar  to  those  on  the  bicycle  for  multiplying  speed 
and  transmitting  power.  A  small  bevel  gear,  which  surrounds 
the  gun,  engages  a  larger  one  mounted  on  the  trunnions.  This 
large  wheel  carries  on  its  shaft  a  small  sprocket,  to  which  it  is 
keyed.  A  sprocket  chain  leads  from  this  to  a  large  sprocket 
wheel  mounted  on  the  trail.  The  latter  wheel  may  be  re- 
volved either  by  hand  or  foot-power,  depending  upon  the  size 

of  the  gun. 

The  speed  is  so  multiplied,  through  this  system  of  sprocket 
chain  and  gears,  that  a  velocity  of  1200  revolutions  per  minute 
is  imparted  to  the  gun. 

Owing  to  there  being  practically  no  pressure  in  the  tube 
there  is  no  recoil,  and.  therefore,  the  carriage  remains  in  posi- 
tion The  elimination  of  the  strain  due  to  recoil  permits  of 
an  extremely  light  carriage,  the  weight  of  the  3.5-inch  field 
cxun  and  carriage  complete  being  under  400  pounds.  ihe 
breech  mechanism  is  extremely  simple  and  of  the  interrupted 
screw  type.  A  copper  gas  check  is  provided,  which  takes  the 
place  of  the  brass  carriage-case  in  rapid-fire  guns,  or  the  Ue 
Bange  gas  check  in  larger  pieces,  which  prevents  the  escape 
of  gas  into  the  breech  mechanism. 

The  firing  of  the  gun  is  readily  accomplished  as  follows: 
The  breech-block  is  first  opened  and  the  projectile  inserted. 
It  is  then  closed  and  the  primer  attached.    The  gun  is  then 
spun  up.  and  when  revolving  rapidly  enough  and  pointed  at 
the  target  the  lanyard  is  pulled,  the  primer  fired,  and  the  flame 
communicated  to  the  rocket  composition  in  the  end  of  the  pro- 
jectile    A  certain  amount  of  gas  is  allowed  to  escape  around 
the  rocket,  so  that  no  more  pressure  will  be  banked  up  than 
is  sufficient  to  give  the  projectile  a  good  start.     After  leaving 
the  muzzle  the  burning  of  the  rocket  composition  increases 
the  density  of  the  gas.  thus  imparting  an  accelerating  velocity. 
In  the  larger  gun,  used  for  fortifications  and  on  board  ship, 
the  side  frame  which  forms  the  trunnions  of  the  breech  is  re- 
placed by  cylindrical  casing,  which  carries  the  trunnions  at 


490  POCKET  TORPEDO  GUN. 

its  forward  end.  From  Uic  irunnions  the  construction  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  field  piece.  The  breech  mechanism  and 
method  of  loading  are  practically  the  same.  The  transmission 
of  the  power,  however,  and  the  multiplication  of  the  speed  are 
quite  different. 


BIO  ro.4X7'  ni:FE\si-:  arx^.  49i 


CHAPTER  LIII. 
BIG   COAST   DEFENSE    GUNS. 

HOW  THE  GREAT  DEATH-DEALING  MACHINES  ARE  LOADED  AND 
KIRED— MECHANISM  OF  THE  DISAPPEARING  AND  DYNAMITE 
GUNS    AND     THE    BIG    MORTARS    DESCRIBED. 

Of   the   many   notable  achievements   which   have   in   recent 
times  crowned  American   ingenuity  and  enterprise,  none  are 
more  praiseworthy  than  the  invention  and  perfection  of  the 
ponderous    guns    which    not    only    constitute    the   paramount 
feature  in  the  armament  of  the  nation's  warships,  but  likewise 
stand  in  readiness  to  dispute  the  entrance  of  hostile  vessels  into 
any  harbor  of  importance  on  either  of  her  extensive  seaboards. 
The  matter  of  providing  adequate  protection  to  points  along 
her  sea  and  gulf  coasts,   which   were   repeatedly  pronounced 
vulnerable  by  military  experts,  was  for  many  years,  through 
legislative  contention,  subjected  to  protracted  delay.     The  im- 
portance of  that  protection  and  the  perilousness  of  its  procras- 
tination is  amply  appreciated  after  a  moment's  reflection  upon 
the  suddenness  which  marked  the  precipitation  of  the  present 
international    conflict.      However,    when   the   construction    of 
lortificatious  was   finally   inaugurated,   the   rapidity  and  thor- 
oughness which  characterized  the  progress  of  the  undertaking 
was  nothing  short  of  phenomenal,  and  today  the  people  rest 
secure  in  the  knowledge  that  their  coast  is  guarded  by  a  system 
of  defenses  unsurpassed  throughout  the  world. 

The  guns  which  are  depended  upon  to  repel  any  attack  upon 
the  coast  cities  are  of  a  most  formidable  character,  and  repre- 
sent three  distinct  types,  viz..  the  8,  lO  and  12-inch,  breech- 
loading,  steel  rifle,  the  12-inch  breech-loading  steel-rifled 
mortar,  and  iS-inch  breech-loading  pneumatic  dynamite  gun. 
The  12-inch  rifle,  which,  by  reason  of  its  extensive  range  and 


o 


492  BIO   COAST  DEFENSE  GVN8. 

great  penetration,  is  considered  the  most  effective,  and,  there- 
fore, most  important  of  the  coast  defense  guns,  is  37  feet  in 
length  and  weighs  forty-five  tons.  The  fixed  charge  is  425 
pounds  of  brown  prismatic  powder,  which  will  throw  a  steel 
armor-piercing  projectile  weighing  850  pounds  over  a  space 
of  twelve  miles.  The  velocity  given  this  death-dealing  missile 
is  2100  feet  per  second  and  with  an  initial  energy  of  26,000 
foot  tons. 

The  distance  at  which  such  a  shot  can  be  fired  with  accuracy 
at  an  object  the  size  of  a  warship  depends  upon  the  range  of 
vision,  which,  through  telescopic  sights  and  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances,  is  about  eight  miles.  At  the  shorter 
range  of  two  miles  some  marvelous  feats  in  marksmanship 
have  been  accomplished.  As  an  instance,  one  of  the  guns  at 
Sandy  Hook  was  discharged  at  a  target  two  feet  in  diameter, 
ihe  huge  projectile  piercing  the  center  of  the  bull's-eye.  The 
position  of  the  gun  was  then  altered,  aimed  anew,  and  two 
more  shots  fired,  each  passing  directly  through  the  aperture 
made  by  the  first. 

The  superior  advantage  possessed  by  a  heavy  gun  mounted 
on  shore  over  one  of  the  same  caliber  on  a  war  vessel  is  demon^ 
strated  by  the  fact  that  the  latter  will  carry  but  two-thirds  the 
distance  of  the  former.  This  is  owing  to  the  greater  elevation 
that  can  be  given  the  harbor  defense  gun  as  compared  with  that 
of  the  warship,  the  latter  admitting  of  adjustment  to  but  a 
comparatively  slight  angle,  for  the  reason  that,  should  its 
breech  be  depressed  to  the  same  degree  as  that  of  the  shore 
gun,  the  force  of  its  recoil  would  send  it  crashing  through  the 
decks  of  the  staunchest  vessel  afloat. 

The  carriages  upon  which  the  shore  guns  are  mounted  are 
somewhat  varied  as  to  mechanism,  the  two  most  distinct 
patterns  being  the  barbette  and  the  disappearing  carriages. 
The  former  consists  of  a  massive  base  ring  supporting  the 
heavy  metal  frame,  and  operated  by  means  of  rollers  upon  a 
circular  track.  So  ingeniously  are  the  bearings  and  levers 
arranged  that  one  man  can  readily  manipulate  the  ponderous 
mass  of  steel,  depressing  or  elevating  the  huge  breech  at  any 
angle  and  swinging  the  whole  great  contrivance  through  an  arc 


BIG  COAUT  DEFENSE  GUNS.  493 

of  270  degrees.     The  gun   proper  rests   in  a  seating  of  giu: 
metal,  to  which  it  is  securely  strapped  by  means  of  broad  steel 
bands     The  seating  is  so  designed  as  to  slide  backward  and 
forward  upon  the  flanged  surface  of  the  steel  frame,  to  which  it 
is  confined  by  long,  cylindrical  buffers  attached  to  the  trun- 
nions on  either  side.     These  buffers  are   for  the  purpose  of 
taking  up  the  recoil  of  the  gun  after  firing,  by  means  of  heavy 
.teel  springs  coiled  inside.     In  some  instances  the  buffer  is 
filled  with  water  or  glycerine,  and  works  upon  a  steel  rod, 
extending  forward  from  the  rear  end  of  the  frame,  on  the  same 
principle  as  a  piston.    Upon  the  discharge  of  the  gun  a  rebel 
valve  in  the  cylinder  is  automatically  opened,  the  recoil  forcing 
the  liquid  contents  into  the  forward  end  of  the  buffer,  which 
constitutes  a   gradual  and  effective   brake  action.     In   order 
to  again  run  the  gun  out  to  a  tiring  position  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  transfer  the  liquid  under  pressure  to  the  rear  ot  the 
piston  in  the  recoil  cylinder. 

The  method  of  loading  and  firing  a  12-inch  harbor  defense 
gun  has  been  reduced,  through  the  achievements  in  mechan- 
kal  science,  to  an  admirable  state  of  simplicity.     The  breech 
mechanism  consists  mainly  of  a  solid  steel  plug,  constructed 
on  the  principle  of  an  interrupted  screw,  its  threads,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  interior  of  the  breech,  being  bisected  at  three 
intervals  by  broad  channels  cut  into  the  metal  parallel  with  the 
axis  of  the  breech  block.     Attached  to  the  outer  edge  of  the 
chase   rim,  and   extending  across   the   lower  portion    of  the 
breech    is  an  automatic  swinging  tray  for  supporting  the  plug 
upon  its  being  withdrawn.     This   is  accomplished  by  means 
of  a  single  crank  extending  from  the  side  of  the  chase  rim, 
and  upon  turning  which  the  plug  is  revolved  one-sixth  of  a 
turn    throwing  the   threads   out  of   connection  and   allowmg 
it  to'  slide  outward  through  the  channels.     Upon  its  leaving 
the  breech,  the  weight  of  the  plug  is  taken  by  the  tray,  which, 
by  a  few  additional  revolutions  of  the  crank,  is  swung  to  one 
side  and  the  gun  is  ready  for  loading. 

The  task  of  lifting  a  projectile  weighing  nearly  half  a  ton 
would,  at  a  casual  glance,  appear  in  itself  no  small  undertaking, 
and  the  readiness  and  ease  with  which  it  is  raised  by  means 


494  BIG   COl^T  DEFENSE  GUNS. 

of  the  hydraulic  elevating  apparatus  is  only  another  illustration 
of  the  marvelous  ingenuity  and  perfection  exhibited  in  all  the 
details  combined  in  modern  gunnery.  When  lifted  to  its 
position  opposite  the  breech  opening  the  projectile  is  thrust 
into  the  chamber  by  means  of  a  hydraulic  or  electric  rammer, 
situated  at  a  distance  of  five  feet  to  the  rear  of  the  gun.  This 
rammer  is  operated  simultaneously  with  the  elevating  appa- 
ratus, the  speed  of  the  latter  being  six  times  that  of  the  former, 
so  that  by  the  time  the  projectile  is  raised  to  its  required 
position  the  rammer  is  directly  behind  it,  and  a  second  later 
has  pushed  it  home. 

Upon  withdrawing  the  rammer  the  two  sections  of  powder 
are  raised  and  mserted  behind  the  shot,  after  which  the 
action  of  the  crank  shaft  is  reversed  and  the  plug  swung  into 
place,  thrust  into  the  breech  and  locked.  The  firing  attach- 
ment, consisting  of  a  friction  fuse,  is  then  screwed  into  the 
vent,  the  lanyard  adjusted,  and  the  gun  only  remains  to  be 
sighted  prior  to  firing.  In  aiming  the  required  angle  is  secured 
by  turning  the  elevating  wheels,  which  action  raises  or 
depresses  the  breech  as  desired.  The  sights  are,  as  a  rule. 
attached  to  one  side  of  the  gun,  near  the  trunnions,  and  are 
combined  with  a  system  of  the  most  delicately  constructed 
telescopic  lenses,  which  enable  the  gunner  to  draw  an  ex- 
tremely fine  bead,  at  a  great  distance,  on  the  object  aimed  at. 
The  firing  is  accomplished  by  a  slight  tug  at  the  lanyard, 
which  causes  a  frictional  ignition  of  the  quick  fuse  connected 
with  the  powder  charge,  and  a  simultaneous  discharge  results. 

The  disappearing  carriage,  while  adapted  only  to  guns  of  an 
inferior  caliber  to  that  just  described,  is  nevertheless  a  splendid 
example  of  the  advances  made  in  the  department  of  heavy 
ordnance,  and  is  a  fitting  monument  to  the  scientific  knowledge 
and  inventive  genius  of  American  military  ofificers.  In  attesta- 
tion to  their  superior  merit,  there  is  not  a  fortification  on  the 
United  States  seaboard  today  which  is  not  equipped  with 
8  or  ID-inch  guns  mounted  upon  disappearing  carriages. 
When  in  a  firing  position  these  guns  stand  at  a  height  of  four- 
teen feet  above  the  base. ring,  while  after  discharging  they  are 


BIG  COAST  DEFEXSE  GVyS.  495 

lowered  by  the  momentum  furnished  by  the  recoil  to  a  position 
less  than  one-half  that  height. 

The  nipin  features  of  this  remarkable  carriage  are  the 
ponderous  steel  arms  adjusted  to  either  trunnion,  at  the  lower 
extremities  of  which  is  secured  a  heavy  counterpoise.  To  the 
breech  of  the  gun  is  attached,  by  means  of  two  smaller  trun- 
nions, a  heavy  steel  bracket.  When  the  gun  is  fired  the  force 
of  the  recoil  causes  it  to  describe  an  ellipse,  and  upon  descend- 
ing the  weight  of  the  massive  chase  is  caught  and  supported 
by  the  bracket,  where  it  is  held  until  the  reloading  process  is 
completed.  The  counterpoise  attached  to  the  forearms  not 
only  assists  the  buffers  in  taking  up  the  recoil  after  discharg- 
ing, but  also  greatly  facilitates  the  return  of  the  gun  to  a  firing 
position. 

Another  invaluable  addition  to  the  national  harbor  defense 
system  is  the  powerful  12-nich  steel  rifled  mortar,  which,  at  a 
range  of  four  miles,  is  the  most  destructive  fighting  machine 
of  it5  caliber  in  existence.  The  weight  of  the  projectile  thrown 
by  this  mortar  varies  from  1000  to  1200  pounds  and  contains 
100  pounds  of  high  explosive.  The  amount  of  powder  required 
for  a  single  discharge  is  125  pounds.  Aimed  at  the  high  angle 
for  which  it  is  designed,  a  shell  can  be  fired  from  a  12-inch 
mortar  with  such  accuracy  and  force  over  a  four-mile  range 
as  to  pierce  the  decks  of  any  war  vessel  afloat.  Moreover,  the 
bursting  charge  is  so  minutely  timed  that  the  explosion  of  the 
shell  does  not  transpire  until  it  has  penetrated  into  the  interior 
of  the  vessel. 

As  an  example  of  the  excellent  marksmanship  developed 
by  the  forces  manning  these  guns,  over  a  range  varying  from 
four  to  six  miles,  thirteen  out  of  twenty  shots  were  recently 
dropped  into  an  area  the  size  and  shape  of  a  modern  warship's 
deck,  while  the  remaining  seven  struck  so  close  that  everyone 
of  them,  upon  exploding,  would  have  been  destructive  to  a 
vessel.  The  process  of  loading  and  firing  such  a  mortar  is 
essentially  the  same  as  that  applied  to  the  12-inch  rifle, 
although  the  mechanism  is  of  necessity  somewhat  more  com- 
plicated. 

Of  an   entirely   different   character   from   any   of   the   other 


496  BIG  COAST  DEFENSE  GUNS. 

heavy  ordnance  in  use  are  the  pneumatic  dynamite  guns. 
They  are  of  two  styles,  und  are  varied  as  to  caliber.  No.  i 
consists  of  a  thin,  smooth  bore,  cast-iron  tube  15  inches  in 
diameter,  and  54  feet  long,  mounted  at  a  fixed  elevation  of  18 
degrees.  In  the  place  of  gunpowder  compressed  air  is  em- 
ployed in  discharging  the  shell  from  this  gun,  the  power  being 
furnished  by  Norwalk  compressors.  The  air  is  forced  into 
reservoirs  consisting  of  a  number  of  tubes  constructed  of 
wrought  iron.  16  inches  in  diameter,  and  i3-i6th  of  an  inch 
thick.  There  are  two  of  these  reservoirs,  one  for  firing  and 
the  other  for  storage,  the  capacity  of  the  former  being  210 
cubic  feet  and  of  the  latter  420.  The  air  is  stored  at  a  pressure 
of  2000  pounds  per  square  inch,  while  the  firing  reservoir  has  a 
fixed  pressure  of  icoo  pounds. 

The  quantity  of  air  used  at  one  discharge  is  regulated  accord- 
ing to  the  extent  of  the  range.  At  the  distance  of  a  mile  the 
amount  of  air  required  is  150  pounds,  and  this  deficit  in  the 
firing  reservoir  is  immediately  replenished  from  the  storage 
supply.  Two  "revolvers,"  acting  upon  much  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  a  Colt's  cylinder,  are  placed  under  the  breech  of  the 
gun,  each  of  which  contains  five  chambers  for  holding  as  many 
projectiles.  In  loading  the  gun  the  entire  chase  is  uncoupled 
from  the  tube  and  dropped  downward  on  a  pivot  in  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  breech. 

As  it  descends,  the  opening  comes  directly  in  line  with  the 
lower  chamber  of  the  first  "revolver,"  from  which,  by  means 
of  a  hydraulic  rammer,  the  shell  is  forced  back  into  the  breech, 
after  which  the  chase  is  swung  upward  and  again  connected 
with  the  main  tube  By  so  doing  the  revolver  is  turned  one 
chamber,  thus  placing  another  shell  in  readiness  for  the  next 
loading.  When  the  first  revolver  is  emptied  it  is  automatically 
refilled  by  the  one  in  reserve  In  firing  the  gun,  a  small  lever 
is  pulled,  which  releases  the  requisite  amount  of  air  to  carry 
the  shell  over  the  desired  range.  Style  2  differs  from  the 
above  principally  in  the  breech  mechanism,  the  projectile 
being  received  into  the  chamber  through  an  opening  in  the 


BIG  COAST  DEFENSE  GUXS.  497 

breech,  which  is  closed  when  firing  by  a  steel  plug  similar  to 
that  of  the  steel  rifle  previously  described.  When  not  in  use 
the  tube  of  this  gun  rests  in  a  massive  forestock,  extending 
nearly  its  entire  length,  and  from  which  it  can  be  elevated  to 
any  desired  angle. 

Not  the  least  interesting  of  the  many  peculiarities  of  the 
pneumatic  gun  is  its  projectile.  The  largest  of  these  is  seven 
feet  in  length  by  fourteen  and  three-fourths  inches  in  diameter, 
and  in  shape  somewhat  resembles  a  monster  arrow,  having  a 
spindle-like  shaft  with  spiral  vanes  attached  to  the  end,  de- 
signed to  preserve  its  alignment  and  to  create  a  rotary  motion. 

The  effect  of  a  full-size  projectile  thrown  from  one  of  these 
guns  is  as  yet  only  problematical,  but,  judging  from  the  tests 
made  by  smaller  guns  of  like  design,  the  execution  resulting 
therefrom  must  necessarily  be  appalling.  As  an  instance,  a  50- 
pound  shell  fired  from  an  eight-inch  pneumatic  gun  at  an  old 
government  survey  schooner  a  mile  distant  resulted  in  her 
complete  destruction.  A  more  comprehensive  idea  as  to  the 
tremendous  force  that  would  be  generated  by  the  bursting 
of  a  shell  from  one  of  the  larger  patterns  may  be  had  from  the 
opinion  of  torpedo  experts,  who  have  declared  that  the  sub- 
marine explosion  of  the  largest  projectile  thrown  by  a  15-inch 
pneumatic  gun  would  wreck  a  warship  upward  of  twenty  feet 
distant  from  the  spot. 

With  such  admirable  defensive  facilities  at  her  command  the 
United  States  need  have  but  little  fear  of  any  molestation  of 
her  coast  cities  by  a  foreign  foe.  Yet.  invincible  as  her  har- 
bor batteries  are  at  the  present  day,  the  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  their  strength  will  be  doubly  augmented. 

There  is  at  present  under  construction  and  rapidlj'  nearing 
completion  at  the  great  Watervliet  arsenal  on  the  Hudson  the 
largest  coast-defense  gun  in  existence.  It  is  known  as  the  16- 
inch  Flagler  rifle,  and  when  completed  will  be  forty-nine  feet 
in  length,  with  a  gross  weight  of  126  tons.  This  stupendous 
engine  of  war  will  consimie  at  a  single  discharge  1000  pounds 
of  prismatic  powder,  and  will  hurl  a  steel  projectile  six  feet  in 
length  and  weighing  2350  pounds  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles. 


498  BIG  COAST  DEFENSE  GUNS. 

It  is  quite  safe  to  predict  that  the  distribution  of  a  few  of 
these  slumbering  volcanoes  along  the  Atlantic,  the  Pacific  and 
the  -Gulf'  coasts  will  insure  peace  to  these  United  States 
in  their  immediate  vicinity  for  several  generations  to  come. 


MINING  THE   HARBOR.  499 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

MINING    THE   HARBOR. 
HOW    THE    DEADLY     EXPLOSIVES    ARE    PLACED    AND    OPERATED. 

Now  that  everybody  has  heard  of  the  mines  and  torpedoes 
placed  in  ship  channels  for  the  purpose  of  blowing  up  a  war- 
ship whose  commander  is  rash  enough  to  attempt  an  attack, 
it  will  doubtless  prove  of  interest  to  many  to  have  the  mmes 
and  the  method  of  exploding  them  explained.  Awful,  indeed, 
would  be  the  scene  should  these  hidden  explosives  be  i^red 
under  a  hostile  warship  or  fleet.  On  one  side  would  be  the 
gigantic  power  of  the  battleships,  shrouded  in  smoke  and 
shaking  earth,  sea  and  sky,  with  the  thunder  of  their  guns.  On 
the  other  side,  mystery-a  power  as  gigantic  as  that  of  the 
ships  but  veiled  by  the  calm  waters  of  the  bay.  Death  with- 
out warning  leaps  up  under  the  keels  of  the  ships  and  crushes 
them  in  his  terrible  embrace,  dragging  the  rum  down  with 
him  into  the  depths. 

The  human  agency  by  which  this  terrible  result  is  brought 
about  remains  wholly  hidden  from  the  hostile  fleet. 

WHERE    THE    OPERATORS    ARE. 

In  a  little  secret  chamber  in  a  fort  are  the  men  who  are  to 
blow  the  doomed  vessel  or  fleet  into  eternity.  One  of  them 
sits  by  an  instrument  that  has  keys  like  a  piano,  or,  perhaps, 
more  like  one  of  the  modern,  small  telephone  switchboards. 
Many  wires  run  out  from  the  keys.  The  other  ends  of  the 
wires  are  under  the  surface  of  the  bay. 

A  second  operator  eagerly  scans  a  chart  of  the  harbor.  It  is 
ruled  into  squares  like  a  checker-board,  and  each  square  is 
numbered.  Upon  this  chart  he  traces  the  position  of  the  ad- 
vancing ships  as  it  is  reported  to  him  from  various  observa- 


nOO  MINING   THE   HARBOR. 

tion  stations  with  which  he  is  in  telephonic  and  telegraphic 
communication.  In  these  stations  are  men  who  operate  niar^ 
velously  delicate  instruments  called  "position  finders,"  by- 
means  of  which  movements  and  distances  of  the  enemy's  ships 
are  always  accurately  known. 

TOUCfllNG   THE    KEY. 

Signals  come  and  go.  In  the  underground  chamber  the 
squares  of  the  chart  are  rapidly  checked  ofif  as  some  great  bat- 
tleship advances  to  its  doom.  The  fatal  moment  comes.  The 
operator  bends  forward  and  touches  a  key.  Instantly  a  fright- 
lul  waterspout  leaps  up  around  the  ship.  She  is  seen  in  the 
midst  of  it — distorted,  unreal. 

The  mountain  of  water,  with  the  iron  mass  of  the  battleship 
half  hidden  in  it,  falls  slowly.  The  sea  is  furrowed  by  great 
waves,  bearing  a  little  wreckage.  The  operator's  ear  distin- 
guishes the  reverberation  of  the  explosion  amid  the  din  of 
battle.  A  faint  thrill  comes  to  him  through  the  earth  floor 
of  his  den.  It  is  all  over.  He  turns  again  to  the  chart. 
Another  ship  is  coming. 

The  present  complete  defense  has  been  brought  about  by  the 
assiduous  efforts  of  the  War  Department.  The  work  goes  on 
([uietly  and  without  any  more  publicity  than  can  be  helped. 
The  torpedoes  are  laid  on  in  what  is  known  as  observation 
mines.  The  mines  will  be  fired  from  an  observation  point,  and 
will  be  exploded  by  electrical  connections  on  shore.  A  vessel 
which  finds  herself  over  one  of  these  mine  fields  at  the  lime  of 
explosion  will  be  torn  to  pieces. 

DESTRUCTION    IS    COMPLETE. 

No  craft  ever  built  can  withstand  the  terrific  effect  of  500 
pounds  of  gun  cotton  exploding  under  her  bottom.  Experi- 
ments made  with  hulks  have  shown  that  twenty-five  pounds 
of  gun  cotton  has  served  to  tear  out  100  square  feet  of  a  ve"ssers 
hoUom. 

The  torpedoes,  however,  are  not  operated  singly.     On  the 


MIMXa   THE  HARBOR.  501 

contrary,  they  are  arranged  in  groups  of  at  least  six  in  a 
group.  A  500-pound  gun-cotton  torpedo  has  a  destructive 
area  of  about  sixty  feet.  The  torpedoes  are  laid  out  at  dis- 
tances of  about  sixty  feet  apart,  and  a  group  of  six  would  have 
a  destructive  area  of  720  feet.  That  means  that  a  channel  720 
feet  in  width  can  be  safely  Intrusted  to  the  care  of  six  tor- 
pedoes. 

The  torpedoes  adopted  by  the  United  States  are  similar  to 
the  best  pattern  now  in  use  in  Europe.  One  type  consists  of  a 
cylindrical  case,  made  of  3-16  plate  and  a  little  over  32  inches 
in  diameter  and  about  34  inches  in  depth.  Eye-bolts  are 
riveted  to  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  case  tor  slinging  it  and 
for  connecting  the  sinkers.  Both  the  bottom  and  top  of  the 
case  are  fitted  with  lids.  The  gun  cotton  is  packed  in  twenty- 
two  copper  cases,  and  these  are  stored  in  the  cylinder  in  two 
tiers.  Each  case  is  fitted  with  rewetting  holes.  The  center 
copper  case  has  a  hole  in  it  for  the  reception  of  the  primer, 
which  serves  to  explode  the  mass.  This  primer  is  a  disc  of 
dry  gun  cotton,  and  is  sufficiently  powerful  in  its  effects  to 
explode  the  latent  mass  of  wet  gun  cotton.  Wires  lead  down 
through  the  lids  of  the  cylinder  and  connect  with  the  primers 
in  the  center  of  the  copper  cases.  When  this  is  done  the  lids 
are  fastened  down  and  a  dome  is  screwed  on.  The  greatest 
care  has  to  be  exercised  at  all  stages  of  the  work,  for  that 
little  dry  gun-cotton  charge  is  so  sensitive  that  not  much 
coaxing  is  necessary  to  cause  it  to  explode. 


502  CONDUCT  OF  AN  ARMY  CAMP. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

CONDUCT    OF    AX    ARMY    CAMP. 

STUPENDOUS  LABOR  IWOLVKD  IX  PROVIDING  FOR  TWENTY- 
FIVE  THOUSAND  MEN — SOLDIERS  IN  CA.MP  ARE  LIKE  THE 
INHABITANTS  OF  A  CITY  WHO  ARE  ALL  DEPENDENT — EVERY 
MAN  MUST  BE  FED,  CLOTHED  AND  HOUSED  LIKE  SO  MANY 
CHILDREN — HOW    THIS    IS    DONE. 

Very  few  people  have  a  definite  idea  as  to  the  stupendous 
work  involved  in  the  conduction  of  an  anny  camp  during  time 
of  war.  It  is  a  tremendous  task,  and  only  those  identified 
with  the  army  have  a  proper  conception  of  the  great  amount 
of  labor  required.  Indeed,  the  work  is  of  such  great  im- 
mensity that  officers  and  assistants  labor  incessantly  from 
sunrise  until  far  into  the  night  every  day.  including  Sundays 
and  holidays.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  assistant  adju- 
tant-general's ofhce.  where  the  office  hours  begin  at  six  o'clock 
and  continue  until  almost  midnight. 

In  the  city,  no  matter  what  size,  every  man  depends  upon 
himself.  In  an  army  every  man  depends  upon  the  officer 
above  him.  .A^rmy  aff'airs  are  peculiarly  those  of  a  continuous 
chain,  with  every  link  dependent  upon  another.  Like  chil- 
dren to  parents,  are  enlisted  men  to  their  ofificers,  particularly 
in  matter  of  dependence — so  is  the  captain  to  his  major,  the 
major  to  his  colonel,  and  so  on  from  major  to  the  major- 
general. 

To  appreciate  what  this  dependence  means  is  to  partially 
realize  what  nn  undertaking  is  it  to  manage  a  camp  of  over 
25,000  men.  To  visit  the  camp  of  an  army  corps,  to  see  the 
thousands  of  tents,  the  hundreds  of  wagons,  the  supply  stores 
of  the  commissaries  and  ]uartermasters.  the  cooking  and 
baking  arrangements  and  systematic  bustle  in  general — to  see 
all  of  this  will  serve  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  average  citizen, 


COM)!  CT  OF  AX  ARMY  CAMP.  503 

fill  him  with  amazement,  and  if  a  complainer,  make  him  not  a 
little  sorry  of  his  previous  criticism. 

Comparing  a  camp  to  a  city  of  equal  population  gives  a  fair 
idea  of  the  undertaking  involved  in  its  conduction,  but  docs 
not  do  justice  to  the  actual  work  of  a  camp,  for  the  reasons 
given  above,  that  a  military  camp  is  a  continuous  chain— 
every  man  dependent  upon  another. 

The  camp,  if  widely  spread  out,  will  cover  over  nine  square 
miles;  almost  8000  tents  will  be  needed,  the  exact  number  of 
tents  to  a  regiment  being  359  for  enlisted  men,  one  for  the 
colonel,  one  for  tl^e  lieutenant-colonel,  three  for  the  battalion 
majors,' one  for  the  regimental  surgeon,  one  for  the  regimental 
adjutant,  one  for  the  regimental  quartermaster,  one  for  the 
regimental  chaplain,  three  for  the  battalion  adjutants,  three 
for  the  assistant  surgeons,  twelve  for  the  company  captains, 
twenty-five  for  the  lieutenants,  one  for  the  regimental  head- 
quarters and  four  for  officers"  mess. 

The  teaming  feature  of  a  military  camp  will  surprise  most 
people.  There  are  needed  over  175  army  wagons,  and  almost 
a  thousand  mules,  necessitating  almost  200  teamsters.  Car- 
nages ambulances  and  signal  corps  conveyances  are  to  be 
added  to  this  list,  making  this  feature  of  the  army  resemble 
the  wagon  and  team  feature  of  a  circus-but  minus  the  glitter, 
slare.  glamor  and  spangles  of  the  latter. 

^  The  sustenance  feature  of  an  army  camp,  known  as  the 
commissary,  towards  which  unreasonable  critics  have  been 
so  severe,  involves  work  and  necessitates  a  system  of  which 
the  public  has  a  very  faint  comprehension. 

There  is  a  chief  commissary  officer.  Under  him  is  the  duel 
commissary  of  each  division,  who  rank  as  majors,  and  the 
chief  commissary  of  each  brigade,  who  rank  as  captains.  Alsc. 
under  him  is  the  depot  commissary  officer,  wlio  ranks' as  cap- 
tain and  who.  with  a  force  of  three  commissary  sergeants, 
four  clerks  and  twelve  laborers,  occupies  a  large  commissary 
warehouse  at  the  railway  station,  where  supplies  nre  kept  and 
distributed  to  the  brigades. 

"Feeding  an  army  is  an  arduous  task."  said  Colonel  Allison. 
chief  commissary  of  the  Second  Army  Corps,  "and  I  wish  the 


504  CONDUCT  OF  AN  ARMY  CAMP. 

public  only  partially  realized  the  duties  incumbent  upon  the 
commissary  department,  especially  under  such  circumstances 
as  prevailed  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  when  necessity  com- 
pelled the  selection  of  many  men  for  the  different  offices  of 
the  department  who  had  no  previous  experience.  The 
result  can  be  imagined  of  inexperienced  men  manip- 
ulating a  locomotive,  and  so  with  all  professions  and 
vocations.  There  were  few  experienced  men  attainable,  and 
at  first  there  was  no  opportunity  to  school  the  inexperienced. 
I  was  in  charge  of  the  commissary  department  at  Camp  Alger 
when  the  newly-appointed  officers  began  to  report.  They 
came  with  clerks  as  inexperienced  as  themselves,  and  at  first 
things  ran  any  way  but  smoothly.  Perceiving  the  necessity, 
I  determined  to  give  each  newly-appointed  commissary  officer 
and  clerk  three  or  four  days'  schooling,  and  the  result  was 
gratifying. 

"Among  the  first  mistakes  was  that  of  giving  each  company 
in  bulk  rations  for  ten  days,  and  the  result  was  that  for  the 
first  several  days  the  soldiers  gorged  themselves,  and  before 
the  ten  days  were  up  would  complain  about  scarcity.  There 
were  also  complaints  that  other  companies  had  better  rations. 
There  were,  no  doubt,  grounds  for  complaints  of  the  last- 
named  character,  but  the  fault  rested  with  the  officers  of  the 
companies.  On  hearing  of  such  complaints,  I  gave  instruc- 
tions that  each  company  commissary  make  it  a  special  point 
to  watch  closely  the  portioning  of  the  company  supplies,  and 
make  certain  against  the  company  being  slighted.  I  also  cut 
the  rations  from  ten  days'  supplies  to  three  days'  supplies,  but 
have  since  increased  it  to  five  days.  There  is  no  occasion  for 
scarcity  of  food  in  any  company.  More  than  enough  is 
provided,  and,  in  fact,  more  than  each  man  can  eat.  The  army 
ration,  as  provided  by  the  United  States  Government,  is  the 
result  of  years  of  test  and  study,  and  exceeds  in  every  respect 
the  army  rations  of  any  other  nation  on  earth. 

"The  greatest  trouble  ofttimes  rests  with  the  companies 
themselves.  For  instance,  the  beef  for  the  camps  comes  in 
refrigerator  cars,  and  the  hours  for  delivery  to  the  commissary 
officers  arc  from  five  o'clock  to  ten  o'clock  A.  M..  so  as  to 


coy  DUCT  OF  AX  AKMY  CAMP. 


50.- 


keep  the  cars  closed  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  borne  com^ 
panies  send  wagons,  with  sacking  to  wrap  the  meat  in  and 
when  the  meat  reaches  the  company  quarters  it  is  placed  in  a 
deep  hole  and  covered  with  brush,  etc.,  to  keep  out  warmth 
and  light.  Such  companies  keep  their  meat  tresh.  On  the 
other  hand,  some  companies  have  the  meat  hauled  to  them 
uncovered  and  unprotected,  and  leave  it  setting  on  the  top  of 
a  barrel  at  the  mercy  of  flies  and  weather.'  ^ 

"Bv  recent  legislation."'  continued  Colonel  Allison,  'each 
companv  is  entitled  to  an  enlisted  man  tor  cook,  with  pay 
of  corporal.  Besides,  the  regulations  of  the  army  provide  lor 
the  companv  commander  to  supervise  the  cooking  and  mess- 
ing of  his  men.  It  is  his  duty  to  see  that  the  company  is 
provided  with  at  least  two  copies  of  a  manual  expressly  pre- 
pared for  army  cooks,  and  it  is  his  further  duty  to  see  that  the 
necessary  utensils  in  serviceable  condition  are  always  on  hand. 
It  is  a  strict  order  that  the  company  kitchen  be  kept  clean, 
and  that  no  one  be  allowed  to  visit  or  remain  in  the  kitchen 
except  tho=e  who  have  business  there.  It  is  also  ordered  that 
the    greatest    care    be    observed    in    cleaning    and    scouring 

cooking  utensils.  u   ^      i    « 

"The  rations  of  flour  per  man  is  eighteen  ounces,  but  when 
made  into  bread  it  amounts  to  considerably  more  than 
eighteen  ounces.  In  fact.  6000  ounces  of  flour,  by  bakery  ar- 
rangements here,  makes  9000  ounces  of  bread.  This  extra  3000 
is  a  saving  of  that  much  to  the  men.  and  they  are  so  credited. 
A  corps  bakery  is  conducted  here,  with  Charles  Suehle  as 
foreman,  and  a  fine  quality  of  bread  is  turned  out.  Mr.  Suehle 
has  thirty  assistants,  twenty  of  whom  are  enlisted  men.  The 
present  capacity  is  8000  loaves  daily,  but  this  will  shortly  be 
increased  to  34.000  loaves  daily-thirty-four  ovens,  with  a 
capacity  of  1000  loaves  each. 

"The'  saving  to  the  troops  by  this  arrangement  is  about  33 
per  cent.,  which  is  disposed   of  to  their  benefit  or  credited  to 

the  company  fund."  ^-       r  ^ 

The  following  is  a  list  of  articles  composing  the  ration  for 
troops  as  furnished  by  Colonel  Allison: 


506  coy  DUCT  OF  AN  ARMY  CAMP. 

Quantities 
per  ration — 
Articles.  Ounces. 

Fresh  beef 20 

Or  fresh  mutton,  when  the  cost  does  not  exceed  that 

of  beef   20 

Or  pork    12 

Or  bacon 12 

Or  sak  beef  22 

Or  when  meat  cannot  be  furnished — 

Dried  fish   14 

Or  pickled  fish   18 

Or  fresh  fish   18 

Bread  components — 

Flour    18 

Or  soft  bread   18 

Or  hard  bread  16 

Or  corn  meal 20 

Baking  powder  for  troops  in  the  field,  when  necessary 

to  enable  them  to  bake  their  own  bread 16-25 

Vegetable  components — 

Beans   2  2-5 

Or  peas   2  2-5 

Or   rice    i  3-5 

Or  hominj'   i  3-5 

Potatoes  16 

Or    potatoes,     12  4-5    ounces,    and    onions,    3  1-5 

ounces    16 

Or  potatoes,  11  1-5  ounces,  and  canned  tomatoes, 
4  4-5  ounces;  or  4  4-5  ounces  of  other  fresh  vege- 
tables, not  canned,  when  they  can  be  obtained  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  post  or  transported  in  a  whole- 
some  condition   from  a   distance 16 

CofTee  and  sugar  components — 

Cofifee — Green    i  3-5 

Or  roasted  coffee  i  7-25 

Or  tea,  green  or  black 8-25 

Sugar   2  2-3 


COS'DUCT  OF  AX  ARMY  L'AMF.  507 

Gills. 

Or   molasses    16-25 

Or  cane  syrup   16-25 

Seasoning  components — 

Vinegar  8-25 

Ounces. 

Salt    16-25 

Pepper— Black    1-25 

Soap  and  candle  components — 

Soap   16-25 

Candles  (when  illuminating  oil  is  not  furnished  by  the 

quartermaster's  department)  6-25 

The  department  of  the  chief  quartermaster  is  one  involving 
great  labor,  care  and  judgment.  Colonel  Howard  is  chief 
quartermaster,  and  subordinate  officers  of  the  department  ex- 
tend through  divisions,  brigades,  regiments  to  companies. 
The  department  supplies  the  clothing,  etc.,  to  the  enlisted 
men,  also  transportation;  has  charge  of  teamsters,  teams, 
wagons,  convej'ances  and  tents  and  scores  of  other  things  of 
like  nature. 

The  chief  engineer  has  ten  assistants  and  a  clerk.  The  de- 
partment is  an  important  one,  and  the  work  consists  of  laying 
out  roads,  constructing  bridges,  planning  camps,  etc. 

The  hospital  department  is  an  important  one,  and  a  large 
force  of  surgeons  is  kept  busy.  The  work  is  conducted  sys- 
tematically to  a  marked  degree.  ]\Iuch  of  the  illness  results 
from  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  themselves. 
Many  of  them  disregard  the  imperative  rules  of  health  and 
hygiene,  and  some  are  extremely  indiscreet  in  one  respect,  in 
particular,  that  of  overeating  or  dissipation  when  away  from 
camp.  But  illness  can  no  more  be  checked  in  a  military  camp 
than  in  a  town  or  city.  Typhoid  and  other  fevers  and  dys- 
entery prevail  in  spite  of  every  possible  sanitary  precaution, 
and  even  at  the  hospital  wards  surgeons  themselves  have 
suffered  from  dysentery. 

Every  morning  there  is  a  thorough  cleaning  up  and  the 
strictest  rules  are  enforced.  The  premises  of  the  wealthiest 
city  resident  are  not  cleaner  kept.    The  company  commanders 


508  CONDUCr  OF  AX  ARMY  CAMP. 

are  obliged  to  make  a  complete  inspection  of  the  company 
quarters  and  kitchens  every  day,  giving  particular  attention 
to  cleanliness  and  the  proper  preparation  of  food,  etc.  Indeed, 
the  captains  of  the  companies  constitute  most  important  links 
in  the  army  chain,  and  if  every  captain  would  insist  on  cleanli- 
ness among  his  command,  cleanliness  of  camp  and  constantly 
admonish  his  command  against  violation  of  the  simple  laws  of 
health,  the  illness  of  camp  would  l^e  reduced  to  a  minimum. 


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